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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| FENIX 701 Escapades in the Galapagos Islands |
| 2026-08-14 |
| [WashingtonPost] Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats. A surveillance plane flew from El Salvador toward the fishing boats before drones attacked, flight data shows. The mysterious strikes targeting multiple Ecuadorian fishing boats near the Galápagos Islands this year were carried out as part of a covert CIA program, The Washington Post has learned. While many details about the agency’s involvement were not clear, one person with knowledge of the matter said the strikes were part of a “covert action” program, a type of secret operation overseas that is approved by the president but where the role of the U.S. government is not publicly acknowledged. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity. No agency or government has claimed responsibility for the incidents, including the disappearance in January of a fishing vessel and eight of its crew members. The CIA’s involvement adds a new and secretive dimension to the Trump administration’s otherwise highly publicized campaign against alleged drug traffickers at sea. It was not clear whether other actors were involved, such as private contractors or authorities from other countries. The CIA declined to comment for this report. Several members of congressional intelligence committees contacted by The Post declined to comment. The strikes are separate from the Pentagon’s campaign against alleged drug boats that began last fall. Those strikes have been fiercely criticized by human rights groups and some Democratic lawmakers, who say they are extrajudicial murders. The administration has justified the strikes by equating “narco-terrorists” with militants assaulting the United States. The eight missing Ecuadorian nationals were aboard a 52-foot longline fishing boat called the Fiorella. The men on two boats that were struck in March, the Negra Francisca Duarte II and the Don Maca, all survived. In interviews with The Post, survivors said that small quadcopter drones either dropped munitions on the vessels or detonated by crashing into them. The men said they were then taken aboard a nearby ship, hooded and cuffed by armed men, and transported to El Salvador — only to be returned later without explanation to Ecuador. In each of the incidents, a high-end business jet equipped with specialized surveillance technology flew from El Salvador in the direction of the fishing vessels on the days of the strikes and in the days prior, according to flight- and ship-tracking data. Details about the plane, and the pattern of its flights before the incidents, suggest that it may be linked to the secret CIA program. Related: Galápagos Islands: 2025-08-27 Coast Guard offloads record-breaking amount [76,000 pounds] of drugs off Florida coast Galápagos Islands: 2020-07-30 Ecuador navy 'on alert' as 260-strong Chinese fleet nears Galapagos Islands |
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