Joint Ecuador-US military operations against narco-terrorism
Ecuador and the United States launched joint military operations against organised crime. President Noboa stated that the country will not fight alone.
Ecuador and US deploy joint forces against narco-terrorist organisations
Military personnel from Ecuador and the United States initiated joint operations against organised crime groups, according to apnews.com. The US Southern Command confirmed on Tuesday on the social network X that both nations have launched actions against "designated terrorist organisations" in Ecuadorian territory.
General Francis Donovan, head of Southern Command, noted that the peoples of the region have "experienced firsthand and in their neighbourhoods the violence and corrosive consequences of narco-terrorism", and stressed that "the time is now for our partners in the western hemisphere to take decisive measures against this plague". Southern Command also published a night-time video showing a helicopter flying over a group of men walking, without revealing the outcome of the scene or the identity of the individuals.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared on social networks that in the war against drug trafficking, "Ecuador will not fight alone" and that it has allies willing to act "shoulder to shoulder" with its law enforcement forces. Noboa openly criticised the "lack of cooperation and control of drug production in neighbouring countries", with direct reference to Colombia and Peru, considered the world's largest drug producers. "We are waging a war against drug trafficking, but we would not be waging it if there were control in production," the president insisted.
General Henry Delgado, head of Ecuador's Joint Command, confirmed at a security forum held in Quito that on Tuesday "some operations" were initiated and that his forces would not be intimidated by any pressure. "We are confident that what we are doing is precisely for the benefit of our beloved Ecuador," Delgado stated, without offering specific details about the scope or location of the actions on Ecuadorian soil.
The Associated Press requested detailed information about the joint operations from the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Defence Ministry, but received no response at the time of publication.
The start of these binational operations coincides with another significant political decision: the Ecuadorian government declared the Cuban ambassador, Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez, and his diplomatic staff "persona non grata", giving them 48 hours to leave the country.
Since Noboa took office in November 2023, Ecuador has deepened its security ties with Washington. The announcement of the operations came a day after Noboa himself revealed that his government had launched a new phase in the fight against organised crime, with the involvement of military and police personnel alongside allied countries. Ecuador is experiencing a sustained wave of violence linked to drug trafficking, illegal mining and other illicit activities.
At the end of 2024, both governments had already announced temporary joint actions to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking, particularly in the port city of Manta, in the country's central coastal region. The authorities consider Ecuador a key logistical node in drug trafficking: the territory serves as a collection and distribution point for narcotics entering mainly from Colombia, to be sent onwards to Central America, the United States and Europe.
The Ecuadorian government has repeatedly highlighted that actions coordinated with Washington have made it possible to intercept shipments of significant volumes of drugs. In 2025, Ecuador seized 214 tonnes of narcotics, mainly cocaine, a figure lower than the nearly 295 tonnes seized the previous year, according to official data.
Source: Google News EC — Crime