The United States Southern Command reported that on 8 September a US patrol vessel intercepted the Ecuadorian fishing boat Don Rufo in international waters near the Ecuadorian coast. The boat’s captain, Mero Calderón, said the crew was handcuffed, blind‑folded and taken aboard a US ship before the vessel was destroyed.
The operation was justified by US officials as a response to intelligence that the boat was being used by a gang as a floating refuelling station for speedboats allegedly carrying drugs. The fishers denied any involvement in illicit activity. The US Southern Command said it conducts operations in compliance with US and international law and that leaving boats intact could allow their reuse by criminal networks.
A separate incident on 10 September involved a smaller boat that was not equipped to return to shore. The Ecuadorian navy rescued the crew that day, while the US had already been in the region for a visit by the US Secretary of State.
Human rights groups, including the Permanent Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, estimate that more than 220 fishers have been subjected to violent boardings, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and the destruction of vessels in US‑led operations this year. None of the fishers remain in custody, and many have been acquitted for lack of evidence. The committee’s lawyer, Fernando Bastías, has questioned the destruction of evidence if the vessels were indeed used to refuel drug boats.
