US destroys another suspected drug-smuggling vessel linked to Los Choneros, the fourth in more than a week

U.S. forces intercepted a suspected drug-smuggling supply vessel linked to the criminal group Los Choneros in the eastern Pacific. Southern Command said the Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere had stopped a floating, multi-vessel refueling station supporting illicit maritime drug-trafficking operations.

The command said intelligence confirmed that the vessels supported Los Choneros, which it described as a violent narcoterrorist organization. After the main vessel was cleared and its crew disembarked, U.S. forces sank it along with the attached support boats.

“

The intelligence confirmed that the vessels were operating in support of the violent narcoterrorist organization Los Choneros.

The operation marked the fourth such attack in more than a week, alarming residents and human rights organizations. Twenty-eight crew members from two vessels intercepted and sunk by U.S. forces in coordination with Ecuador arrived in the port city of Manta. Their relatives gathered there seeking information and protesting the detentions.

“

This is the product of an investigation. These vessels have been used as logistics platforms for other small boats that begin tying up, loaded with drugs, and then leave for Mexican ports and later the United States. This is work carried out with international cooperation.

Ecuadorian Interior Minister John Reimberg said the operation followed an investigation. He described the vessels as logistical platforms used by smaller boats that load drugs before heading toward Mexican ports and then the United States. He said the operation involved international cooperation.

The relatives rejected the allegation that the detainees were drug traffickers. They said the men were fishermen who had gone out to work. One relative told reporters that fishing was the families’ only livelihood and asked what President Daniel Noboa expected people in the fishing community to do when there was no work.

“

What does President Daniel Noboa want? For the entire fishing community to go out and steal because there is no work? This is the family’s only livelihood.