Ecuadorian Court Clears 32 Fishermen After U.S. Destroys Two Boats

An Ecuadorian judge cleared 32 crew members from two fishing vessels destroyed by the U.S. military in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, October 7, after prosecutors failed to prove the defendants had committed unlawful association. The decision marks the first trial judgment arising from a series of U.S.–Ecuador maritime operations carried out in late August and September.

Eight defendants served aboard the Conquista II and 24 aboard the María Candelaria, according to the Spanish news agency EFE. U.S. forces intercepted and sank both vessels, accusing their crews of assisting maritime drug trafficking. Those accusations led to criminal proceedings in Ecuador, where the first-instance court concluded that the evidence was insufficient to establish the alleged crime.

Defense lawyer Juan Alvia told EFE that the prosecution failed to present any U.S. investigative report directly implicating his clients in drug trafficking or illegal fuel distribution. He said the judge found that no criminal act by these defendants had been demonstrated. This judgment concerns the 32 accused crew members; it is not a court determination about every vessel targeted during the wider operation.

Washington claimed a maritime drug supply network

The U.S. Southern Command has alleged that the fishing boats functioned as floating refueling stations for vessels transporting narcotics toward North America, with support allegedly tied to Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian criminal organization. In a September 2 press release, the command stated that Marines and sailors launched from the USS San Antonio boarded one vessel, removed the people on board and sank it.

Those military descriptions were allegations, not convictions. According to Alvia, no U.S. documentation establishing criminal wrongdoing by his clients was produced during their trial. The gap between the military assertions and the evidence presented in court now sits at the center of the controversy.

Eight Ecuadorian boats destroyed

Human Rights Watch reported that U.S. forces intercepted and destroyed eight Ecuadorian fishing vessels between August 28 and September 16, detaining more than 140 of approximately 160 crew members. The group based its October 2 findings on interviews with 27 people, judicial documents, police records, photographs and military statements.

The rights organization examined police files concerning dozens of detainees and said the records listed maritime identification documents but did not identify confiscated narcotics, fuel cargo or other direct evidence supporting the alleged offenses. Human Rights Watch also reported that defense lawyers described phone examinations containing family pictures and routine documents, rather than evidence of trafficking.

Human Rights Watch was unable to determine whether any of the vessels had in fact been involved in illegal refueling. The group warned that destroying the boats could itself have eliminated evidence relevant to resolving that question. Its findings challenge the evidentiary basis of arrests without proving that every intercepted vessel was operating lawfully.

Crew members reported coercion and mistreatment

Several fishermen interviewed by Human Rights Watch alleged they were struck, blindfolded, threatened or pressured to confess to fuel trafficking while in U.S. custody. The organization urged U.S. and Ecuadorian officials to investigate those claims and disclose the legal basis for the military operations. The allegations have not been judicially established in the proceedings described here.

The organization also documented earlier Ecuadorian judicial orders releasing other crew members after detention was found unlawful or the grounds for criminal charges were insufficient. Those earlier cases are separate from the October 7 judgment involving the Conquista II and María Candelaria defendants.

Further trials and potential legal action

EFE reported that the October 7 decision was the first verdict among three trials covering 88 crew members from five sunk vessels. A second hearing for 46 defendants was scheduled for October 8, while a third concerning 10 people was postponed to October 20. The rulings in those cases remain undecided.

Alvia said the newly cleared crew members were considering steps to demand an investigation into the destruction of their boats and the treatment they described before being transferred to Ecuadorian authorities. The October 7 ruling is at first instance and may still face legal review.

The central question is evidence

U.S. and Ecuadorian authorities maintain that maritime interdictions are intended to disrupt criminal drug-supply routes. Yet this court proceeding ended without proof of an offense by the 32 prosecuted fishermen. The decision highlights the need to distinguish military intelligence claims from evidence sufficient to prosecute individuals, particularly when the vessels that could contain physical evidence have already been destroyed.

The fate of the remaining defendants, the legal authority for destroying the boats and the allegations of mistreatment remain unresolved. The latest ruling, however, establishes that the prosecution's case against these 32 crew members did not survive judicial scrutiny.

Sources and image credit

Primary reporting: EFE, October 7, 2026. Investigation: Human Rights Watch, October 2, 2026. U.S. military account: Southern Command, September 2, 2026.

Photo: U.S. Marine Corps / Cpl. Daniel Garcia. Marines board a fishing vessel in the Pacific Ocean on September 2, 2026. View the public-domain original on DVIDS.