Ecuador releases survivor of US strike on 'drug sub' in Caribbean

Ecuadorian officials say they found no evidence the man had committed a crime, and so had freed him.

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US military forces captured the Ecuadorean national along with a Colombian citizen after they attacked the submarine the two were on. US President Donald Trump said they would be returned to their countries of origin "for detention and prosecution".

But the Ecuadorean Attorney General's office has said in a statement that the Ecuadorean survivor "could not be detained" because there was "no report of a crime that has been brought to the attention of this institution".

The US has conducted a series of strikes on what it describes as drug-smuggling vessels in the region.

Ecuadorean officials had earlier identified one of the survivors of Thursday's strike as Andrés Fernando Tufiño.