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The president says Operation Southern Spear has virtually ended drug trafficking by sea. Pentagon and DEA analysts have concluded otherwise.
The U.S. military has attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three people
The United States has carried out dozens of boat strikes since September against people the Trump administration accuses of smuggling drugs.
Drug gangs have turned the South American country into one of the most dangerous in the region and the world’s leading exporter of cocaine.
U.S. and Ecuadorian forces announced drug-trafficking military crackdown operations in Ecuador on Tuesday. The big picture: U.S. Southern Command in a Tuesday night statement said the operations targeted "Designated Terrorist Organizations ," hailing the cooperation as "a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism." - SOUTHCOM's commander, Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, met in Quito with senior Ecuadorian officials including President Daniel Noboa on Sunday and Monday "to discuss security cooperation" and reaffirm the U.S. "commitment to supporting the nation's efforts to confront narco-terrorism and strengthen regional security," per an earlier statement .…
The operation was authorized by the Marine general who took command of military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean earlier in the day.