US sinks fourth Ecuadorian ship suspected of links to drug trafficking

The United States sank a fourth ship suspected of links to drug trafficking off the coast of Ecuador on Saturday, during a joint operation with this country, broadcast on social networks by the American army. “Once the main ship was secured and the crew disembarked, US forces sank it along with the support craft attached to it,” US Army Southern Command (Southcom) wrote on X.

According to Centcom, the destroyed boat “operated in support of the violent narcoterrorist organization Los Choneros.” For its part, the Ecuadorian Navy declared that it had taken charge of 26 crew members of the ship “María Candelaria”, who are now on their way to the port of Manta (southwest).

Skip the ad

In this same port, the crew members of two other boats sunk by the United States in recent days were taken to a police station upon their arrival Friday, before being released by a judge on Saturday without being charged. “They are criminalizing fishing activity, to the point that, for the American Navy, any fisherman who goes on a fishing trip is a potential criminal,” César Delgado, representative of the fishing sector in Manta, complained to AFP.

In total, four Ecuadorian-flagged ships have been destroyed by the US Navy in recent days for alleged links to drug trafficking. Their crews have all denied being involved in any drug trafficking.

In July, the NGO Human Rights Watch claimed that three boats had been attacked by American forces off the coast of Ecuador, leaving at least eight missing, which Washington denies. With the support of the United States, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa is waging a war against drug trafficking and has brought his country into the “Shield of the Americas”, an anti-drug coalition of around twenty Latin American and Caribbean states, led by American President Donald Trump.