Ecuador judge orders release of 28 fishermen detained after US operation
A judge in Ecuador has ordered the immediate release of 28 fishermen detained after US and Ecuadorian operations against their vessels in the Pacific over alleged links to Los Choneros.
The fishermen were released after the court found no evidence of a crime committed in flagrante delicto or sufficient evidence to support the drug-trafficking allegations. They returned to Manta under police custody, where relatives had gathered demanding answers over their detention and the destruction of their vessels, Conquista II and OM2. The fishermen said they had been fishing and described being treated as criminals during the intervention.
US Southern Command said the vessels were linked to drug-trafficking operations and acted as floating resupply stations in international waters, while the fishermen disputed the account. Ecuador’s Permanent Committee for the Defence of Human Rights filed a habeas corpus petition on their behalf. The judge also ordered Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry to seek explanations from the US Embassy and called for a search for fishermen still missing after the operations.
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