Op White Orchid 01 - 2025/06/28

Situation

The cartel maintains a small but active airstrip just beyond the outskirts of Catalina, enabling a steady flow of aerial smuggling operations. While maritime routes remain their primary method for large-scale drug distribution, the airstrip facilitates quick, low-volume exports to surrounding nations and a high tempo of arms imports from international black-market suppliers. Intelligence intercepts and radar tracking as we entered the region suggest a high frequency of takeoffs and landings—up to two aircraft per hour—indicating not just logistical resupply but the potential movement of high-value personnel or materiel. Disrupting operations at this airstrip would place significant pressure on their smuggling and air logistics network.

One of the larger islands along the Chucomayo coastline serves as both a shielded river access point and a hardened defensive position. This island effectively guards one of only two navigable rivers into the interior, making it a critical maritime chokepoint. Fortified with active coastal defences and a dedicated patrol base, the site hosts repair, rearmament, and refuelling facilities for military and cartel-operated boats. Its function as a coastal logistics hub grants the cartel mobility, rapid reaction capabilities, and layered control over both sea and river traffic. Neutralising or bypassing this position will be vital to penetrating deeper inland and cutting cartel access to riverine supply lines.

Amid the cartel’s frantic push to militarise their holdings, satellite imagery has identified a partially constructed installation located well inland. This site is currently under low-priority development and suffers from minimal manning, likely due to the puppet government overstretching its available forces. While incomplete, the installation presents an opportunity to establish a forward operating position behind the cartel’s primary defensive belt. Securing and fortifying this location would provide a valuable inland staging area, reduce cartel response times in the region, and allow for greater operational reach into less-patrolled sectors of Chucomayo.

Acknowledgements

• Refer to the situation report for detailed information on known factions and identification.
• Civilian population are neutral to our activities, though it is likely members of the cartel are among the population.
• Police, while government-funded and cartel-controlled, appear to heavily support the local population. While not overtly hostile, they are unlikely to assist us in anyway and will most likely report our positions if detected.

Commanders intent

The intent for the first phase of Operation White Orchid is to destabilise the Chucomayo Cartel’s forward infrastructure along the coast and weaken its grip on the surrounding jungle interior. This will be achieved by executing a series of coordinated strikes targeting their logistical lifelines, degrading their ability to project force, and establishing a foothold for deeper inland operations.

These operations will prioritise the disruption of cartel movement by dismantling air and maritime mobility, followed by the capture of strategic positions that offer both operational leverage and intelligence value. Civilian engagement will be minimised, though heightened cartel presence near population centres may result in indirect resistance. 

We will exploit cartel overconfidence and their rapid overextension of military assets while attempting to locate and secure key personnel, aiming to prepare the battlespace for targeted action against high-value individuals in later phases of the operation.

Tasking(s)

Map - Overview

Area of Operations - Alpha | Bravo

40 Commando

• [OBJ Branch] Dismantle the coastal military outposts providing safe access to our forces for future operations
• [OBJ Canopy] Disrupt and destroy patrol boats operating from this port covering the fleet from potential attacks by sea and reducing enemy coastal patrols
• [OBJ Flood] Secure a half built and light military installation for future operational use

2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment

• [OBJ Drizzle] Dismantle the cartels main airstrip and destroy any drug, weapon or supplies awaiting shipment
• [OBJ Flood] Secure a half built and light military installation for future operational use

Joint Aviation Command

• [OBJ Drizzle] Deploy 2PARA via paradrop
• Support 40Cdo and 2PARA by providing transport, logistical resupply and CAS on all objectives.

Markings - AO Alpha

Markings - AO Bravo