QUITO: Ecuador has released a man who survived a US military strike on a suspected drug-trafficking submarine after authorities found no evidence he had committed any crime.
The United States has deployed warships to the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast since August, targeting vessels allegedly transporting narcotics.
These operations have resulted in at least 32 fatalities.
US authorities repatriated the Ecuadorian national following last week’s attack on what President Donald Trump described as a “very large drug-carrying submarine” en route to the United States.
Another survivor from the incident was returned to his native Colombia.
The Ecuadorian attorney general’s office stated there was “no report of a crime that has been brought to the attention of this institution” regarding the man.
Therefore “he could not be detained,“ the office confirmed.
The unidentified individual had “no pending cases against him,“ authorities added.
Trump claimed the vessel was transporting fentanyl and other narcotics when attacked, resulting in two crew member deaths.
Ecuador, once considered among Latin America’s safest countries, has experienced a dramatic surge in violence in recent years.
Strategically positioned between Colombia and Peru, the world’s leading cocaine producers, Ecuador has become a major transit hub for narcotics.
President Daniel Noboa affirmed his government’s determination to combat drug trafficking in a social media post on Monday. – AFP
