Ecuador releases survivor of US strike on submersible ship

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The survivor of a U.S. strike on a submersible ship accused by the Trump administration of transporting drugs to the Caribbean was made public by Ecuadorian authorities after prosecutors said they had no evidence it committed a crime in the South American country, a government official said Monday.

The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, told The Associated Press that the Ecuadorian man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was in good health following medical evaluations.

An Ecuadorian government document obtained by AP states that “there is no evidence or indication that could lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain” of any violation of applicable laws by Tufiño.

AP requested comment from the attorney general’s office but did not immediately receive a response.

The man was repatriated by the United States this weekend following a US military attack on a submersible ship suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean. A Colombian citizen also survived the attack and remains hospitalized after being repatriated to that country.

American soldiers rescued the two men after destroying the submersible on Thursday. Trump said on social media that U.S. intelligence confirmed the ship was carrying “primarily fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”

There is little evidence that fentanyl is produced in the Andes, as the vast majority of its production is transported to the United States via Mexico.

Trump said two people on board were killed and the two survivors were being repatriated to their home countries “to be detained and prosecuted.”

The attack on the submersible was at least the sixth of its kind since September. A seventh, which occurred on Friday, was reported over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths from the attacks to at least 32. The strikes trigger tensions in the regionparticularly between Trump, Venezuela and Colombia, once one of the US government’s staunchest allies in the Western Hemisphere.

The Colombian government said its survivor “will be prosecuted in accordance with the law” for alleged drug trafficking. He noted the man was seriously injured.

The Colombian government announced Monday that it had recalled its ambassador to the United States following increasingly angry exchanges between its president, Gustavo Petroand Trump over strikes.

Tensions rose Sunday when Trump called Petro an “illegal drug leader” and “crazy” after Petro accused the U.S. government of killing a Colombian citizen in a Sept. 16 strike on a boat the U.S. said was carrying drugs.

Meanwhile, Ecuador’s conservative President Daniel Noboa said Monday in a message on X to his American counterpart: “President Trump, Ecuador stands firm in the global fight against drug trafficking. He added that such challenges “require unity among nations committed to peace and prosperity.”

Trump justified these actions by claiming that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels.

It relied on the same legal reasoning that the George W. Bush administration used when it declared war on terrorism after the attacks of September 11, 2001. That includes the power to capture and detain fighters and use lethal force to eliminate their leaders.

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Associated Press journalist Astrid Suárez in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.