THERE is no evidence that the survivor of a US attack on a submersible vessel in the Caribbean was involved in transporting drugs, authorities in Ecuador said on Monday.

The survivor of the US attack, identified as Andres Fernando Tufino, was released by authorities in Ecuador after prosecutors said they had no evidence he committed a crime in the South American nation.

The official source, who asked not to be identified, said that the Ecuadorian man was in good health after medical evaluations.

A document from the Ecuadorian government said: “There is no evidence or indication that could lead prosecutors or judicial authorities to be certain” of any violation of current laws by Mr Tufino.

Mr Tufino was repatriated by the US over the weekend following its attack on a submersible vessel the US claimed, without warning or evidence, was transporting drugs in the Caribbean.

A Colombian citizen also survived the attack and remains hospitalised after being repatriated to that country.

US President Donald Trump said on social media that US intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying “mostly fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”

There is little evidence to indicate that fentanyl is produced in the Andes.

The attack on the submersible was at least the sixth of its kind since September. A seventh that occurred on Friday was reported over the weekend, bringing the total deaths from the attacks to at least 32.

The strikes have set off tensions in the region, particularly between Mr Trump, Venezuela and Colombia.

Colombia’s government said on Monday that it had recalled its ambassador to the United States following an increasingly angry back-and-forth between its president, Gustavo Petro, and Mr Trump over the strikes.

Tensions increased on Sunday when President Trump called his Colombian counterpart “an illegal drug leader” and “a lunatic” after President Petro accused US forces of killing a Colombian citizen in a September 16 attack on a boat Washington claimed was carrying drugs.