Don Rufo: Ecuador Navy Finds 10 Missing Crew of Boat Sunk in US Strike
Ecuador · Security
Key Facts
—The rescue. Ecuador’s navy located ten missing crew members of the fishing vessel Don Rufo on September 10, two days after US forces destroyed the boat in the Eastern Pacific. Sixteen people were aboard; the ten found had moved away from the strike site and are now on the naval unit BAE Atahualpa.
—The count. Don Rufo is the sixth Ecuadorian vessel destroyed by US Southern Command since August 28 and the ninth Ecuadorian boat attacked this year, according to Ecuadorian reporting.
—The US claim. Washington says the vessel served as a floating refueling station for drug-running speedboats and was linked to Los Choneros, which Ecuadorian media describe as the country’s oldest criminal gang.
—The photos. US Marines released photographs of the boardings that preceded the sinkings — crews on deck with their hands up, held at rifle point — covering the vessels María Candelaria, Conquista 2 and Los Tres Hermanos.
—The diplomacy. The strikes unfolded as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Quito on September 9 and told Ecuadorians the operations are not meant to kill fishermen.
—The open wound. Eight crew members of the Fiorella, a boat that vanished on January 20, remain missing; their families met government human-rights officials for the first time this week.
Ecuador’s navy found ten missing crew members of the Don Rufo, a fishing vessel destroyed in a US strike on September 8, as Washington released boarding photos that give the US boat campaign its first concrete Ecuadorian face — and hand Quito a consular and sovereignty dossier.
Ten Missing Fishermen Found Alive After Two Days
The Ecuadorian Navy announced on September 10 that it had located the ten missing crew members of the Don Rufo, the fishing vessel destroyed by US forces two days earlier. In a statement on X, the institution said the men “are aboard the naval unit BAE Atahualpa and will be transferred to port, so that the competent authorities can continue with the corresponding procedures.”
Sixteen people were aboard the Don Rufo when US forces intervened on September 8. According to the Ecuadorian Navy, the ten now located had “moved away from the place of the intervention,” while Southern Command said the crew members it removed from the boat were transferred to the Ecuadorian authorities. “After clearing the boat, US forces sank it,” the command said.
The navy did not disclose where the ten men were found. It said the discovery resulted from continuous aerial and maritime search and exploration operations since September 8, with coordinated deployment of naval and air assets, according to reporting by the Quito-based outlet Primicias.
Washington said on the day of the operation that the Don Rufo was serving as a suspected floating resupply station supporting alleged drug-trafficking operations at sea, and that it was linked to Los Choneros, the gang whose top leader, José Adolfo Macías Villamar, known as Fito, is imprisoned in the United States after being extradited, according to Primicias.
The Photos Washington Released
Until this week, the public face of the US campaign was a series of black-and-white videos, filmed from helicopters, showing already-emptied boats being blown up. That changed when US Marines published color photographs of the boardings that preceded the destruction.
Marine Forces South released images of the boarding of the María Candelaria carried out on Saturday, September 5, and days later of the same procedure carried out on the Conquista 2 on Wednesday, September 2, Primicias reported. In the second case, the photographs show the crew gathered on deck with their hands raised while a boat full of heavily armed Marines points rifles at them and begins the boarding. The images also show crew members being detained and taken off their vessel onto the US military boat before the bombing.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit separately published photographs of an August 28 operation against Los Tres Hermanos, the first of the attacks disclosed in the past two weeks, according to Primicias. Southern Command’s own press log lists six “interdictions of narco-terrorist refueling vessels” between August 28 and September 8 — matching the six Ecuadorian boats — plus a separate “lethal kinetic strike” announced for September 9 whose target nationality was not identified. Together, the releases confirm a pattern: US personnel board the Ecuadorian boats with weapons drawn, remove the crews, and only then destroy the vessels.
Six Ecuadorian Boats in Two Weeks, Nine This Year
The Don Rufo is the sixth Ecuadorian fishing vessel destroyed by Southern Command since August 28, all in the Eastern Pacific, and the ninth attacked this year, according to Ecuadorian reporting. The United States did not claim the first three cases between January and March — among them the Fiorella — but Southern Command has acknowledged the six operations carried out since late August.
Washington frames the offensive as support for the “war” that President Daniel Noboa has waged against criminal gangs since 2024. The US government says intelligence identifies the vessels as providing logistical support and fuel resupply to speedboats that leave the Ecuadorian coast carrying large quantities of cocaine toward North America.
Ecuadorian courts, however, have so far found little to hold the crews on. Fishermen removed from the bombed boats and handed to Ecuadorian authorities were freed in at least two of the six reported cases for lack of evidence, Primicias reported; the crew of a third vessel was also released under conditions after being processed for alleged illicit association. In a related case, 32 fishermen from the coastal province of Manabí are being prosecuted while 28 remain free, according to the outlet.
Rubio in Quito: “Not Meant to Kill Fishermen”
The escalation at sea coincided with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Quito on Wednesday, September 9. Pressed by journalists on whether fishermen unconnected to drug trafficking could lose their lives, Rubio answered: “Here no one intends to kill fishermen.” The biggest risk, he said, is that criminal organizations “continue operating,” because “they are indeed killing.” He confirmed the operations will continue.
For the Noboa government, which has made security cooperation with Washington the centerpiece of its foreign policy, the sinking of Ecuadorian-flagged boats with Ecuadorian crews creates a delicate file: Quito must now answer to fishing communities and to congress about what happens to its citizens once US forces hand them over, and under what authority foreign warships are destroying Ecuadorian vessels in international waters.
The Fiorella Families Still Wait
Not every crew has been found. Eight fishermen from the Fiorella, which disappeared on January 20 after setting out from the Manabí port of Jaramijó, according to Amnesty International, remain missing almost eight months later. On Thursday, September 10, their relatives held their first meeting with representatives of the Human Rights Undersecretariat of the Ministry of Government to hear what has been done and what investigations exist, local media reported.
“We have to keep the hope that they will help us,” one relative told the television channel Ecuavisa. Amnesty International has called for an urgent investigation into the possible US role in the attack on that vessel. For foreigners living in Ecuador, the week marks a turning point: a US military campaign that had unfolded mostly in grainy aerial footage now has names, faces and survivors on Ecuadorian soil — and a government in Quito that must decide how loudly to ask Washington for answers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to the crew of the Don Rufo?
Ecuador’s navy located the ten missing crew members on September 10, two days after US forces destroyed the vessel on September 8. Sixteen people were aboard; the ten found had moved away from the intervention site, while those removed by US forces were handed to Ecuadorian authorities. The ten are aboard the naval unit BAE Atahualpa awaiting transfer to port.
How many Ecuadorian boats has the US destroyed?
Six since August 28, all acknowledged by US Southern Command, and nine attacked this year in total, according to Ecuadorian reporting. Washington did not claim the first three incidents between January and March, including the Fiorella, whose eight crew members are still missing.
Why does the US say it bombs these boats?
Washington says the vessels act as floating refueling stations for speedboats carrying cocaine from Ecuador’s coast toward North America and links them to the Los Choneros gang. Ecuadorian courts have freed many of the detained fishermen for lack of evidence.
Connected Coverage
The Rio Times has tracked the expansion of the US boat campaign across the hemisphere since its first strike.
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Sources: Primicias; Prensa Latina; Amnesty International; US Southern Command; Ecuavisa.
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