In the footsteps of the Colombian survivor of Trump’s strike against alleged drug submarine

There are question marks about the judicial future of Jeison Obando Pérez, the 34-year-old Colombian who was repatriated by the United States after surviving Washington’s attack on a suspected narco-submarine on October 16 in the Caribbean Sea. Pérez was deported to Colombia with “brain trauma, sedated, drugged, and on a ventilator,” according to Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, who also stated that Pérez will be “prosecuted according to the law, because he is allegedly a criminal who was trafficking drugs.” However, the Colombian justice system’s ability to act in his case is limited: there is no evidence that he committed a crime in the country.

“There is an open investigation, but it won’t reach a judicial outcome unless he incriminates himself,” said a senior official in the Attorney General’s anti-narcotics division. The agency, in short, can only prosecute him if he voluntarily decides to speak to the court about his case. An indictment is even less likely, as the investigation opened by the Public Prosecutor’s Office indicates that the attack occurred in international waters, meaning it is an incident outside its jurisdiction.

Obando Pérez was detained by Washington authorities after the strike against a vessel in the Caribbean Sea on October 16, according to U.S. President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. According to the White House, the attacked vessel was a semi-submersible carrying “fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.” Four people were on board. Two died, while Obando Pérez and an Ecuadorian citizen survived. Although the attacks on nine vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean amount to “extrajudicial killings,” according to humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Trump indicated, at the time of repatriating the survivors, that both would be taken to their respective countries for detention and prosecution.

The Colombian senior official from the Attorney General’s Office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Obando Pérez has no criminal record in Colombia and that the agency was not involved in the return operation. The Colombian Immigration Agency and the Ministry of the Interior were instead involved. He also stated that, although an investigation has been opened, the repatriated man has not been mentioned in any judicial proceedings in Colombia nor has he been formally linked to drug trafficking investigations in the past.

Obando Pérez is hospitalized at Kennedy Hospital, in southwestern Bogotá. A medical report obtained by this newspaper shows that he was admitted with “a fracture at the base of the skull and orbit, as well as intracerebral injuries,” but “no signs of serious injury.” At the beginning of the week, according to the document, he was already showing “improvement” and was withdrawn from respiratory assistance. “He remains under observation and multidisciplinary medical care,” the medical report states. Sources from the Ministry of the Interior maintain that there has been no contact with his family.

The possibility of Obando leaving the hospital a free man is reinforced by the case of Andrés Fernando Tufiño, the other survivor of the narco-submarine attack, who was sent back to Ecuador. He was also treated in a hospital, and even though his arrest was scheduled to take place at the time of his medical discharge, prosecutors refused to proceed and released him on Monday. A government document obtained by the Associated Press indicated that “there are no elements of conviction or indications that could lead the prosecutorial or judicial authorities to be certain” that Tufiño committed a crime in Ecuadorian territory. In short, the Ecuadorian government had no evidence against Tufiño, a situation similar to that of Obando Pérez in Colombia.

Washington tightens the noose around Colombia

U.S. strikes are increasingly coming close to Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer. Initially, Trump’s military campaign seemed to have Venezuela in its sights. It was, according to experts, a prelude to a possible ground incursion to overthrow Nicolás Maduro, or at least to push for a change of government from within. The Navy maintains, however, that the majority of submarines and boats carrying drug shipments have no ties to Venezuela, as drug traffickers use the Pacific route more than the Caribbean one.

Of the nine strikes by Washington in the last two months, at least four have some connection to Colombia. In addition to the alleged narco-submarine in which Obando Pérez was traveling, President Gustavo Petro maintains that a Colombian national was killed in another attack on September 15. The president echoed a report from RTVC, the public media network, which identified the deceased as Alejandro Carranza Medina, a native of Santa Marta, a Caribbean city. His relatives, who reported him missing, argue that he had no ties to drug trafficking. Petro suspects that this bombing may have occurred in Colombian waters. The United States has not confirmed the coordinates of any of its operations.

Another boat allegedly linked to Colombia was the one Washington attacked on October 17 in the Caribbean. Secretary Hegseth said it was “affiliated” with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the guerrilla group with which Petro has repeatedly attempted to broker peace. Three people died in the bombing. The armed group denied that the vessel belonged to them. Finally, one of the two attacks on Wednesday, the first in the Pacific during this military campaign, took place “off the Colombian coast,” Hegseth said. The White House has not confirmed whether the boat departed from Colombia or if there were Colombians on board.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition