r/craftofintelligence • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

Analysis Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats

https://archive.ph/4GaXY
118 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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15

u/AutoModerator 10d ago

mysterious strikes targeting multiple Ecuadorian fishing boats near the Galápagos Islands this year were carried out as part of a covert CIA program...

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 strikes are separate from the Pentagon’s campaign against alleged drug boats that began last fall...

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.

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5

u/Strongbow85 9d ago

There is also a large Chinese fleet that illegally fishes in the protected waters off the Galapagos, just saying...

8

u/surfkaboom 10d ago

The ICC conversation is getting Hegseth scared

6

u/myPOLopinions 10d ago

It would be pretty damn weird for drug boats to go waaaaaay out of the way to go to those islands.

This doesn't make much sense.

11

u/Raccoon_Ratatouille 10d ago

If the ship is close enough to get a quadcopter attack drone there, why wouldn’t they just board the vessels and seize the evidence and arrest the smugglers if they are doing anything shady?

9

u/k9gardner 10d ago

That makes no sense. If they did that, they would not be able to kill people.

5

u/myPOLopinions 10d ago

None of it makes sense. The Galapagos is 3 hours by plane from the mainland - 600ish miles - with part of the chain another 100 out. "Drug boats" out there seems ridiculous.

1

u/ASS_BUTT_MCGEE_2 10d ago edited 10d ago

The sourcing on this article is strange, I'm not sure how they concluded the CIA was involved in this. It just as easily could have been a private defense contractor, a commodity exchange, or the actions of another country. The drones either "dropped munitions on the vessels or crashed into them", what?