Report: US Touted Narco Raid That Actually Destroyed a Farm

The dramatic blast US officials touted as proof they were "now bombing Narco Terrorists on land" in Ecuador may have wiped out a small dairy operation, not a cartel camp, according to a New York Times investigation. The strike earlier this month near the village of San Martín was showcased by the Pentagon and Ecuador's government as a joint hit on a drug traffickers' training site tied to a Colombian armed group. But the Times, which visited the site and interviewed the farm's owner, workers, residents, and human rights lawyers, reports the target was a 350-acre cattle and dairy farm whose owner says he has no links to trafficking. "It's an outrage," he said. "There's no logic."

Witnesses described Ecuadorian soldiers arriving by helicopter days before the blast, interrogating and allegedly torturing workers, who described being beaten, choked, shocked with electricity, and dunked headfirst in a barrel of water. The soldiers then burned down farm buildings before returning to bomb the ruins for the video later shared by US and Ecuadorian officials, per the Times. US officials now say American forces did not actually carry out the bombing, though they provided intelligence and support. Locals and rights groups are calling the attack an abuse against civilians and questioning whether officials misrepresented it to sell a tougher anti-drug campaign. Read the full investigation here.