IC Operations — 2026-08-15

Washington Post Reveals Covert CIA Drone Program Behind Mysterious Strikes on Ecuadorian Fishing Boats Near Galápagos

BLUFWashington's silence on the Galápagos strikes will very likely hold through year-end 2026, and the murder of Ecuador's investigating prosecutor eliminates the sole remaining pathway to accountability.

The Washington Post reported that a covert CIA program, run separately from the Pentagon's Southern Spear boat-strike campaign, was behind attacks on Ecuadorian fishing vessels near the Galápagos Islands in January and March 1. The fishing boat Fiorella disappeared on January 20 with eight crew members aboard, who are presumed dead by the United Nations; before it vanished, its captain sent daily satellite messages describing sustained surveillance by aircraft, patrol boats and drones bearing US markings 1. Survivors of the March 17 and 26 strikes said they were abducted, hooded, cuffed and flown to El Salvador before being returned to Ecuador without explanation 123. Ahead of each attack, a surveillance plane registered to a nonexistent company and unlisted with the FAA departed El Salvador's Ilopango airport and flew toward the Galápagos, the Post reported, a pattern it said points to CIA involvement 2. No US agency has claimed responsibility, and the Pentagon has not produced evidence tying the vessels to drug trafficking 13; Ecuador's prosecutor investigating the strikes was shot and killed in June, according to Truthout 2.

Analysis
US agencies will very likely maintain public silence on responsibility through year-end 2026, a pattern already evident in the unmarked surveillance aircraft, the absent FAA registration, and the Pentagon's failure to substantiate drug-trafficking claims. Confidence is low, given single-source disclosure of the CIA link and no independent corroboration of tradecraft details like the Ilopango flight pattern; Common Dreams, Truthout, Democracy Now!, and Newsmax merely republish the Post's original reporting. The strikes could instead reflect an authorized but compartmented extension of Southern Spear, with secrecy stemming from operational classification rather than concealment of an unlawful campaign. Continued silence, compounded by the June killing of the Ecuadorian prosecutor investigating the strikes, leaves the Fiorella disappearance and March abductions without accountability and pushes congressional oversight toward closed-door intelligence committee review rather than public Pentagon scrutiny.

5 sources

Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats - Washington Post
CIA Involved in Covert Strikes on Ecuadorian Boats, Report Says - Truthout
CIA Carried Out Drone Strikes, Disappearances and Torture Near Ecuador's Coast - Democracy Now!
Mysterious Attacks on Ecuadoran Fishing Boats Carried Out by Covert CIA Operation: Report - Common Dreams
Report: CIA Ran Covert Strikes on Ecuador Fishing Boats - Newsmax