The U.S. military intercepted and sank a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean that officials alleged was a "floating refueling station" for the Ecuadorian criminal organization Los Choneros. The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, that the operation was conducted in international waters through a collaboration between Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere and the government of Ecuador. This marked the second such vessel destroyed in a week, following a similar operation on Friday, August 28, 2026.
The vessel intercepted on August 28 had been previously identified and targeted under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions. According to SOUTHCOM, Marines and sailors from the USS San Antonio boarded and cleared that ship without incident. Video footage released by the military showed armed personnel boarding a boat before it was destroyed in an explosion. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of SOUTHCOM, stated the vessels served as critical logistics nodes by providing fuel to drug-trafficking boats operating far from the coastline.
The people on board the vessel intercepted on Wednesday were transferred to the custody of Ecuadorian authorities. In the port city of Manta, relatives of a local fishing crew reported losing contact with a boat that had departed on Friday. Olivia Holguin, sister of that vessel's captain, told AFP that the crew reported being approached by military boats and helicopters before communications ceased. AFP reported it could not verify if the destroyed vessel was the same one carrying the local fishermen.
The U.S. military has launched "Operation Southern Spear," with President Trump arguing that Washington is at war with drug cartels. According to a tally by AFP, more than 200 people have been killed in strikes across the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific since the program began a year ago. The Trump administration has not provided definitive evidence that every vessel struck was involved in drug trafficking. The recent interdictions follow Ecuador joining the "Shield of the Americas" coalition in March, a U.S.-led regional effort to coordinate anti-narcotics actions.
While the U.S. military characterizes these strikes as blows against "narco-terrorist" networks, the lack of reported evidence for each specific strike has left questions regarding the criteria for identifying targets. The outcome of these events depends on the legal proceedings in Ecuador for the transferred crew members and whether the U.S. military continues strikes against similar maritime infrastructure.