Video released by U.S. Southern Command shows Marines and sailors from the USS San Antonio boarding and destroying suspected cartel vessels in the eastern Pacific, with large fireballs, smoke plumes and debris from the explosions. SOUTHCOM says the September 5 operation hit what it called a multi-vessel floating refueling station, a supply network used to keep fast drug-smuggling boats running at sea, linked to Ecuador's Los Choneros gang. According to the military, forces boarded, searched and cleared the vessels, and the people on board were transferred to Ecuadorian authorities before the main vessel and attached support boats were sunk. Helicopters and small boats launched from the ship supported the operation, which SOUTHCOM says was carried out in coordination with Ecuador.

It was one of a series of interdictions in the region, as the Trump administration's monthslong campaign against cartel-linked trafficking has already produced dozens of strikes in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean. The shift is notable: instead of only striking drug boats outright, as was done in earlier operations, U.S. forces are now boarding, detaining crews and destroying the vessels, which SOUTHCOM calls part of an effort to dismantle the logistics networks behind trafficking. Not everyone agrees with the approach. Critics argue that some of the targeted boats are Ecuadorian fishing vessels, and one report says that Ecuadorian courts have so far acquitted 32 of the crew members charged. The big questions are how strong the evidence is, whether the strategy will actually reduce the flow of drugs, and how far the campaign will go.