An Ecuadorian fishing crew on the Don Maca was struck by US drones in March while legally fishing 200 miles northwest of the Galápagos Islands, injuring multiple crew members and destroying the vessel — one of at least 178 deaths in Trump's militarized campaign against alleged drug-trafficking boats since September 2025. The crew's account, gathered by Guardian journalists in Ecuador, directly contradicts US military claims that the vessel was engaged in narco-trafficking; the fishers were then detained at gunpoint, their phones confiscated, and their footage deleted before being transferred to El Salvador. The US military has not released evidence linking the Don Maca to drug operations, and legal experts cited by the Guardian argue the strikes constitute extrajudicial killings of civilians posing no immediate threat — though the White House maintains the campaign is lawful.