Operation: Kingslayer was a covert military operation conducted by Ghost Recon in Bolivia in 2019.
With the intent of destabilizing the Santa Blanca Cartel and eliminating its hierarchy, the operation was conducted as a revenge mission in response to the bombing of the United States Embassy and the murder of a DEA agent. Under the supervision of handler Karen Bowman, the four-man Ghost team known as the Kingslayer Team, led by Anthony "Nomad" Perryman, systematically took down cartel buchons and operation heads before facing El Sueño.
Overview[]
As United States intelligence services began operating in Bolivia in response to the rising Santa Blanca threat, numerous agents were deployed to Bolivia, with many infiltrating the cartel. Amongst these agents included CIA Agent Karen Bowman and undercover DEA Agent Ricky Sandoval. During a meeting with cartel heads, a failed attempt by rebels of the Kataris 26 to wipe out the cartel leadership commenced. During the subsequent purges, Sandoval was outed as a mole and subsequently captured. After enduring torture for nearly two days straight, his body was dumped in a container. Concurrently on the 27th of July, the United States Embassy at La Paz was bombed, seemingly by the Santa Blanca drug cartel, resulting in two Marine guards injured.
Initially having been considered a mid-level drug cartel, the bombing of the embassy had shifted the cartel to the number four spot on the terrorist list. With the native Bolivian government powerless and unwilling to take action, the United States government mobilized its special forces alongside its intelligence services. Dubbed Operation: Kingslayer, the operation was jointly led by the CIA, DEA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Deploying its elite Ghost Recon unit, a team, led by Major Anthony "Nomad" Perryman, was inserted into Bolivia alongside their handler Karen Bowman, who had been posing as an aid worker. However, owing to the operation's covert nature, the Kingslayer team was ordered to assist the battered Kataris 26, and allow them to take credit of Sueño's downfall shortly after the completion of the operation.
Having arrived at Bolivia, the team immediately linked up with local rebel leader Pac Katari. Rescuing fellow Kataris 26 leader Amaru from Santa Blanca's custody, the Kingslayer team began assisting rebel forces in consolidating in the various provinces. Amongst their first targets of Santa Blanca leadership was La Yuri and El Polito, the duo who had tortured Sandoval for days. Having quickly eliminated most of the Santa Blanca forces in the Itacua province, the Kingslayer team assisted Bowman in capturing the other Buchons of the cartel, and successfully turned a number of them, which allowed the team to gather further intel on the location of the different heads of the cartel. Additionally, over the course of the operation, the Kingslayer team discovered that at least three Buchon heads were American citizens that willingly participated in the cartel's operations. Amongst them were former US Army Ranger Carl Bookhart, chemist Marcus Jensen and pilot Boston Reed. Similarly, the team discovered that large sections of Bolivia's elite tactical police unit, La Unidad had brokered a fragile peace deal with the Santa Blanca Cartel, in exchange for keeping violence to a minimum, authorities would turn a blind eye to the drug problem. This eventually escalated with the capture of General Baro, who had agreed to eventually form a deal with the Ghosts, in exchange for the elimination of the Santa Blanca Cartel.
As the operation progressed, the Ghosts' presence in Bolivia would become more widespread throughout the Bolivian public, Santa Blanca, and Unidad via sightings of their presence. Having eventually captured and/or eliminated two of the four cartel heads, El Sueño began to finally take action against Kingslayer's presence. He propositioned the Kingslayer team, but the Ghosts quickly rejected his offer, and continued their operations in eliminating the remaining two cartel heads. Shortly after doing so, the Kingslayer team discovered that Pac Katari had killed Amaru and kidnapped Bowman. Revealing his intentions to take sole credit for the downfall of the Santa Blanca drug cartel, the angered Ghost team quickly mobilized and successfully rescued Bowman, before making a mad dash to El Sueño's mausoleum. Fighting through waves of their former allies, the team was able to infiltrate the building, where they discovered that El Sueño had brutally decapitated Pac Katari. Arriving shortly after the team, Bowman attempted to kill him before she received orders from the her superiors to instead bring him in. Having discovered that El Sueño had made a plea deal with the Department of Justice, Bowman was forced to escort him back to the United States, apologizing to the group for their wasted efforts.
As Bowman returned to the United States, the Kingslayer team remained in Bolivia to continue their investigation in Sandoval's murder. Upon stumbling on Sandoval's corpse, the team discovered that the Santa Blanca drug cartel had been innocent all along. The bombing of the embassy had been conducted by Sandoval himself, largely in an effort to force his superiors to take action against the growing threat of the cartel. Deciding to keep the discovery to themselves, the Kingslayer team was evacuated and returned to the United States, ending Operation: Kingslayer.
Aftermath[]
The aftermath of Kingslayer would prove devastating to the Bolivian state. The death of Pac Katari had resulted in the Kataris 26 falling into infighting, with numerous groups vying for control over the remnants of Santa Blanca's tattered cocaine production facilities. Similarly, the arrest of El Sueño resulted in the near-collapse of the Santa Blanca drug cartel, with numerous warlords establishing their own fiefdoms, similarly engaged in an internal civil war. The exposure of the deal made between La Unidad and the cartel would prove devastating to the unit. Badly weakened by attacks from the Kingslayer team and Santa Blanca, Unidad was unable to maintain order as the country fell into anarchy. The government suffered similar shockwaves, with waves of ministers resigning, fired or arrested by authorities.
Eventually, with the government powerless to stop the growing violence between the rebels and the cartels, PMCs and Special Forces from across South America were called in. Amongst these groups was Los Extranjeros, who would eventually attempt to re-establish the drug production left dormant following Santa Blanca's collapse. The Kingslayer team eventually returned to Bolivia one last time for Operation: Fallen Lord in an ultimately successful attempt to evacuate all compromised CIA agents and remaining American civilians from Bolivia.