US military sinks third Los Choneros drug boat in Pacific within a week

The US military has destroyed a third vessel linked to Ecuadorian gang Los Choneros in the Eastern Pacific. The operation is part of a broader anti-drug campaign that has killed over 200 people since last year.

Third Los Choneros vessel sunk by US forces in less than seven days

The United States military has destroyed a third boat allegedly belonging to Ecuadorian gang Los Choneros in international waters of the Eastern Pacific, US Southern Command announced Thursday, the Jamaica Observer reports.

Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it "successfully interdicted a vessel operating as a floating refuelling station in support of illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations." Intelligence confirmed the vessel was being used in support of the Los Choneros "violent narco-terrorist organisation," SOUTHCOM wrote on X.

Before the sinking, an unspecified number of individuals aboard were removed and "safely transferred" to Ecuadorian authorities. Video footage posted by US forces showed a helicopter and a military boat intercepting the vessel, which was subsequently destroyed in an explosion that sent a large plume of smoke into the air.

The strike marks the third US sinking of vessels allegedly tied to Los Choneros — a gang with known links to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel — since last Friday. Ecuador's Navy confirmed on Friday that it had received 28 crew members from two earlier vessels, identified as Conquista II and OM2, as part of US-assisted operations.

Thursday's action forms part of a broader campaign that has included strikes on alleged drug-running boats leaving more than 200 people dead since last year. President Donald Trump's administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels targeted in the Pacific and Caribbean are involved in drug trafficking.

Human Rights Watch reported in July that at least eight people had gone missing after US forces attacked three Ecuadorian vessels between January and March. Washington rejects the allegation.

Ecuador's right-wing President Daniel Noboa, one of Trump's closest allies in Latin America, joined the US-led "Shield of the Americas" coalition to combat regional drug trafficking in March.

Source: Jamaica Observer