QUITO, Ecuador (BN24) — The United States has officially designated two of Ecuador’s most powerful gangs, Los Choneros and Los Lobos, as foreign terrorist organizations, in what officials call the Trump administration’s latest escalation against criminal cartels in Latin America.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the move Thursday during a visit to Quito, saying the designation gives Washington “all sorts of options” to dismantle the groups, which have been blamed for fueling Ecuador’s surge in violence since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These organizations have been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded,” Rubio said. “President Donald Trump has made clear that this time we’re going to wage war on them.”
The designation allows the U.S. to pursue members of the gangs militarily, freeze their assets and banking accounts, and expand intelligence sharing with Ecuadorian authorities. Both groups have been linked to drug trafficking, contract killings, extortion and prison violence that has left hundreds dead since 2021.
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa welcomed the announcement, thanking Rubio for U.S. support in combating what he described as a terrorist threat undermining his country’s security.
The decision comes just days after a U.S. military strike in the southern Caribbean targeted Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, also listed as a terrorist organization. The strike, which killed 11 people, drew mixed reactions across Latin America, where concerns remain over expanded U.S. military operations in the region. Rubio defended the action, saying the vessel posed an “immediate threat” to the U.S.
Ecuador has increasingly become a focal point in the global cocaine trade as Colombian cartels shift operations closer to its border. The country’s dollarized economy, strategic ports and established gang networks have attracted Mexican, Colombian and Balkan cartels seeking to smuggle cocaine through shipping containers — often concealed in bananas, Ecuador’s top export.
Los Choneros and Los Lobos are at the center of this trade and have waged bloody battles for control of routes and territory. Ecuador extradited Los Choneros’ leader, José Adolfo Macías Villamar, to the U.S. in July, weeks after he was recaptured following a high-profile prison escape. He faces charges in New York for trafficking thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States.
Rubio emphasized that Washington views Ecuador as a key partner in its broader effort to counter drug trafficking, illegal migration and transnational crime. “The United States and Ecuador are aligned in this fight,” he said.
