U.S. and Ecuador say they bombed drug camp; investigation finds dairy farm

U.S. officials released a video in early March showing a massive explosion that destroyed what they described as a narcotrafficker training camp in rural Ecuador. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on social media that the U.S. military, which had spent months bombing vessels it said were transporting drugs from South America, was now "bombing narco-terrorists on the ground."

The operation was presented as part of a new military alliance between the United States and Ecuador against drug traffickers. The airstrike occurred as President Donald Trump prepared to host conservative Latin American leaders at a summit in Florida.

A New York Times investigation, however, challenges the official account. Interviews with the farm owner, four of his workers, human rights lawyers, and residents and leaders of San Martín—a small agricultural locality in northern Ecuador where the bombing occurred—indicate the target was a dairy farm and cattle ranch, not a narcotrafficking site.

According to witness accounts, a helicopter carrying more than a dozen Ecuadorian soldiers conducted the operation. Four of the five farm workers described the attack and its aftermath to investigators. The farm owner and residents of the area also provided testimony contradicting the U.S. and Ecuadorian government statements about the nature of the target.

The investigation raises questions about the joint operation that both the United States and Ecuador had highlighted as evidence of their coordinated efforts against narcotraffickers. The discrepancy between official claims and on-the-ground accounts suggests a significant gap between the public narrative presented by U.S. and Ecuadorian authorities and what residents and workers at the site say actually occurred.