United States Southern Command announced Tuesday that it had destroyed a floating refueling station supporting illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific. The station was associated with the Los Choneros narco-terrorist organization. A boarding party from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, aboard the USS San Antonio, took the vessel's personnel into custody and is transferring them to Ecuadorian authorities. After clearing the vessel and disembarking the crew, U.S. forces sank it.

This operation is the fifth such since the first was announced on August 28.

August 28.

September 2.

September 3.

What they have in common is that they are off the coast of Ecuador, target the same cartel, and are coordinated with the Ecuadorian armed forces.

In the meantime, the lethal plinking of drug boats continues in the Caribbean. The last of these happened on August 25.

While some outlets have characterized this as USSOUTHCOM "changing" strategy, I think it marks a maturation of a strategy that started out playing whack-a-mole with Caribbean drug runners, many of whom were based in Venezuela (The Essex Files: Trump’s Strategy Cuts the Cartels Off at the Source). While the Ecuador operation is definitely choking drug smuggling in that area, I think it should be viewed in the larger scheme of things as strengthening a friendly government, as part of the "Donroe Doctrine," and reducing the ability of the Left and China to meddle in South America.