QUITO (AP) — The survivor of a U.S. attack on an underwater vessel accused by the Trump administration of transporting drugs in the Caribbean has been released by authorities in Ecuador after prosecutors said they had no evidence he committed a crime in the South American country, a government official said Monday.
The official, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, told The Associated Press that the Ecuadorian man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was in good health after medical evaluations.
An Ecuadorian government document obtained by AP states that “there is no evidence or indication that would lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain” about any violation of current laws by Tufiño.
AP requested comment from the Public Prosecution Service, but did not immediately receive a response.
The man was repatriated by the United States this weekend after a US military attack on an underwater vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean. A Colombian citizen also survived the attack and remains in hospital after being repatriated to that country.
US soldiers rescued both men on Thursday after destroying the submarine. Trump said on social media that US 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 it flows through Mexico to the US.
Trump said two people on board were killed and the two survivors were repatriated to their home countries “for detention and prosecution.”
The attack on the submarine was at least the sixth of its kind since September. A seventh that occurred Friday was reported over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths from the attacks to at least 32. The strikes have raised tensions in the region, especially between Trump, Venezuela and Colombia, once one of the US government's closest allies in the Western Hemisphere.
The Colombian government said the survivor “will be prosecuted according to the law” for alleged drug trafficking. It was noted that the man was seriously injured.
The Colombian government said Monday it had recalled its ambassador to the United States after an increasingly angry back-and-forth between the president, Gustavo Petro, and Trump over the strikes.
Tensions rose on Sunday when Trump called Petro “an illegal drug kingpin” and “a lunatic” after Petro accused the US government of killing a Colombian citizen during a September 16 attack on a boat the US says was carrying drugs.
Meanwhile, Ecuador's conservative President Daniel Noboa said in a message on X addressed to his American counterpart on Monday: “President Trump, Ecuador remains steadfast in the global fight against drug trafficking.” He added that such challenges “require unity among countries committed to peace and prosperity.”
Trump has justified the actions by saying the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels.
He 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. It 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.
