U.S. Southern Command destroyed Ecuadorian vessel over unproven Los Choneros ties, second such strike in five days
On September 2, 2026, U.S. Southern Command's Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere intercepted and sank a second Ecuadorian vessel in international waters of the eastern Pacific, five days after a first, again alleging without independently disclosed evidence that it was a "floating refueling station" supporting Los Choneros, a group the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. forces removed the vessel's occupants and transferred them to Ecuadorian authorities before sinking it. It was the second of five such vessels SOUTHCOM destroyed under this capture-and-transfer pattern between August 28 and September 7, 2026.
Actors
On September 2, 2026, U.S. Southern Command's Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere intercepted, boarded, and sank a second Ecuadorian vessel in international waters of the eastern Pacific, five days after a first vessel was destroyed under the same pattern. As with the first, SOUTHCOM described the vessel as a "floating refueling station" supporting Los Choneros -- an Ecuadorian criminal organization the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization -- saying "intelligence confirmed" the connection while providing no independently verifiable evidence supporting that claim. U.S. Marines and sailors launched from USS San Antonio (LPD 17) interdicted, boarded, searched, and cleared the vessel "without incident"; its occupants were then removed and transferred to Ecuadorian authorities before U.S. forces sank it. "This interdiction cuts off a critical node in the traffickers' logistics chain," SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said in a statement announcing the operation.
This was the second Los Choneros-linked vessel SOUTHCOM destroyed under this capture-and-transfer pattern -- distinct in outcome from, though publicly framed by SOUTHCOM and outlets as part of, the same broader eastern Pacific and Caribbean strike campaign that has killed at least 227 people across 68 lethal strikes since September 2025, none of them charged, tried, or convicted of any crime. SOUTHCOM carried out three more interdictions under the same pattern over the following five days, reaching a fifth on September 7, 2026.
Critics have separately questioned the legality of the broader boat-strike campaign, and Ecuadorian authorities have said in at least one earlier case that they found no evidence a survivor of one of the campaign's lethal strikes had participated in any criminal activity -- underscoring the absence of independent verification behind SOUTHCOM's targeting decisions generally, including in cases like this one where SOUTHCOM's own account is the only public evidence for the underlying trafficking allegation.
Why we recorded this
Due process requires that the state not seize or destroy someone's property, or punish someone it suspects of a crime, without any judicial process. U.S. Southern Command intercepted and sank a second Ecuadorian vessel five days after the first, again relying on intelligence it has not disclosed publicly and providing no independent evidence the underlying trafficking allegation was true. This archive records the strike as an instance of extrajudicial state action distinct from the campaign's lethal strikes -- the vessel's occupants were removed and handed to Ecuadorian authorities rather than killed -- because the same unreviewed executive claim of authority to unilaterally destroy a suspect's property applies whether or not the strike proves fatal. It was the second of five such vessels SOUTHCOM destroyed under this pattern between August 28 and September 7, 2026.
Sources
- Interdiction of Narco-Terrorist Refueling Vessel, Sept. 2, 2026 — U.S. Southern Command (press release, mirrored via GlobalSecurity.org) primary accessed September 9, 2026
- U.S. sinks second "floating refueling station" used by alleged drug traffickers — CBS News primary accessed September 9, 2026
- SOUTHCOM sinks Los Choneros narco-terrorist vessel in Eastern Pacific — Fox News investigative accessed September 9, 2026
See also
- JTF Western Hemisphere killed 2 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in eastern Pacific; 67th strike, ~223 campaign deaths
- JTF Western Hemisphere killed 4 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in Caribbean Sea; 68th strike, ~227 campaign deaths
- U.S. Southern Command destroyed Ecuadorian vessel over unproven Los Choneros ties, first strike in a five-strike capture-and-transfer pattern
- U.S. Southern Command destroyed multi-vessel Ecuadorian refueling station over unproven Los Choneros ties, fourth such strike in eight days
- U.S. Southern Command destroyed Ecuadorian vessel over unproven Los Choneros ties, fifth such strike in under two weeks
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