The U.S. military carried out a “successful” operation against a “narco-terrorist” supply complex in Ecuador as part of the Trump administration’s push to dismantle drug-trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere, according to defense officials.
At the request of Ecuador, a U.S. military joint force executed the targeted action against a suspected drug-smuggling facility inside Ecuador on Friday, Pentagon’s chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said.
It is unclear if there were casualties and which drug-trafficking group the military was referring to.
“We commend President Noboa, the Government of Ecuador, and the brave troops of Ecuador’s defense and security forces for their partnership in the successful operation against a narco-terrorist supply complex today, disrupting their operations and logistics,” Parnell said on social media.
The action marks the first operation by U.S. forces since the Trump administration greenlighted the operations earlier this week alongside Ecuadorian armed forces against “designated terrorist organizations.”
“I congratulate our joint forces and the Ecuadorian armed forces for the successful operation against narcoterrorists in Ecuador,” Marine Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, said in a statement. “This collaborative and decisive action is a strategic success for all nations in the Western Hemisphere committed to disrupting and defeating narcoterrorism.”
Previously, the U.S. military was solely carrying out lethal strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. The U.S. forces have conducted at least 44 strikes and has killed a minimum of 150 “narco-terrorists” in total. The Trump administration has said they are targeting vessels to help curb the flow of drugs in the region, while law-of-war experts have argued that the lethal strikes violate international law.
