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🇱🇹 Lithuania /Conflict & Security

U.S. Sinks Third Vessel Linked to Ecuadorian Drug Traffickers This Week

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Ongoing story
  • U.S. forces sank a third vessel in the eastern Pacific this week that Southern Command said supported drug smuggling by Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang.
  • An unspecified number of people were rescued before the vessel sank and handed over to Ecuadorian authorities.
  • The Trump administration has not provided conclusive evidence linking the vessels it attacked to drug trafficking, while Human Rights Watch has reported missing people after earlier strikes.

The United States has sunk a third vessel this week that it says was linked to Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang, escalating a broader campaign against suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Pacific and Caribbean.

U.S. Southern Command said Thursday that its forces had “successfully interdicted a vessel that was a floating refueling station supporting illicit drug trafficking in international waters in the eastern Pacific.” It said intelligence confirmed that the vessel was used by Los Choneros, which it described as a violent narco-terrorist organization.

An unspecified number of people aboard the vessel were rescued before it sank and were safely transferred to Ecuadorian authorities, according to the statement. Video released by the U.S. military showed a helicopter and a military vessel stopping the boat before it was later blown up.

Successfully interdicted a vessel that was a floating refueling station supporting illicit drug trafficking in international waters in the eastern Pacific.

· U.S. Southern CommandThe command described the vessel’s alleged role in supporting drug trafficking.

The vessel was the third allegedly linked to Los Choneros, a group said to have ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, that the United States has sunk since the previous Friday. Ecuador’s navy said on Friday that it had supported the U.S. operations by taking in 28 crew members from two vessels, the Conquista II and the OM2.

The operations have drawn scrutiny because the Trump administration has not presented conclusive evidence that the vessels attacked in the Pacific and Caribbean were involved in drug trafficking. Human Rights Watch said in July that at least eight people disappeared after U.S. forces attacked three other Ecuadorian vessels between January and March. Washington denies that allegation. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, a conservative leader and one of Trump’s closest allies in Latin America, joined the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas initiative against regional drug trafficking in March.

Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was used by a violent narco-terrorist organization, Los Choneros.

· U.S. Southern CommandThe command said intelligence linked the vessel to Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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