QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The U.S. Treasury on Thursday sanctioned 15 people for their involvement in a network that allegedly shipped thousands of kilograms of cocaine per month from Ecuador through Mexico, destined for the United States.
The announcement comes as the U.S. has ramped up attacks against fishermen in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing more than 200, as part of the Trump administration’s push to expand joint anti-drug trafficking operations in Latin America.
“Operating under the guise of legitimate fishing businesses, a fleet of Ecuador-based vessels near Manta, Ecuador, secretly transfers cocaine to small power boats — known as go-fast vessels — that transit north through the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPAC), en route to the United States,” the Treasury Department said.
The members targeted are allegedly part of Los Choneros and Los Lobos, two Ecuadorean gangs previously designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations. The drugs are then smuggled through Mexico to the U.S. by the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), also designated FTOs.
Ecuador has struggled to contain drug violence since 2021 as rival cartels partner with local gangs and battle for control of routes and coastal ports used to smuggle cocaine. The country is wedged between Colombia and Peru, the world’s top cocaine producing countries.
Last year, Ecuador recorded its highest homicide rate in decades of 50 murders per every 100,000 residents, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
The country under President Daniel Noboa has become a strong partner of U.S. President Donald Trump in counter-narcotics operation in the region.
Two U.S. warships with interceptor boats and helicopters will patrol Ecuador’s territorial waters to support the fight against drug trafficking, Ecuadorean Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo announced Thursday.
The announcement was made on his Instagram account after a meeting the previous day in the port city of Manta with Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command. He did not specify when the patrols would begin.
Loffredo noted that “this means we will triple our interdiction capabilities in the maritime zone” and added that “three Black Hawk helicopters are in Manta and will be conducting operations.”
The Associated Press asked U.S. Southern Command for details about the collaboration, but did not get an immediate response.
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