The Trump administration is facing a lawsuit from 16 Ecuadorian fishermen who allege U.S. forces abducted and abused them after a military drone strike sank their boat in March, the Guardian reported Saturday.
The crew of the La Negra Francisca Duarte II plans to file the complaint Monday in federal court in western Pennsylvania, according to the outlet, which reviewed the legal filing. The men say they have never trafficked drugs.
According to the complaint, two armed drones destroyed the boat March 17 some 385 nautical miles from Manta, Ecuador, and two crew members “were themselves set on fire and burned on their legs, arms and back.”
The survivors say uniformed U.S. personnel took them into custody after they rowed lifeboats toward a nearby ship, binding their wrists and hooding them before jailing them for weeks in El Salvador. They are seeking unspecified damages for the strike and their alleged “kidnapping and torture.”
“It was catastrophic for them,” said Dan Kovalik, the Pittsburgh attorney representing the fishermen, speaking with the Guardian, adding that none of the men have been able to work since losing the boat.
Captain Hernán Flores told Al Jazeera in September that the vessel was worth roughly $400,000 and that he is still paying off the loan he took out to buy it.
The filing says Ecuadorian officials had searched the boat shortly before the strike and found no drugs, and it argues the attack lacked congressional approval.
“There is no actual armed conflict that could justify the use of military force,” the complaint states.
The suit targets Operation Southern Spear, the administration’s boat-strike campaign launched in late 2025, which the Washington Office on Latin America says has killed at least 238 people.
A Defense Department spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation. In June, U.S. Southern Command denied that its forces were involved in incidents involving Ecuadorian fishing boats.
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