US & Ecuador Carry Out Joint Military Operations Targeting FARC Dissident Camp

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The United States and Ecuador conducted joint military operations against "designated terrorist organizations in Ecuador," U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Tuesday.

This is the first time, officially, that the U.S. military has engaged in a land combat operation against South American drug cartels and gangs since the 1980s.

Recently, the U.S. military had only carried out airstrikes targeting smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean killing a total of 152 alleged traffickers.

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US Designates Ecuador's Los Choneros & Los Lobos Gangs as Terrorist Groups Linked to Sinaloa & CJNG Cartels

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Secretary Rubio announced the designations of Los Choneros and Los Lobos as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). 

Los Choneros and Los Lobos have attacked and threatened public officials and their families, security personnel, judges, prosecutors, and journalists in Ecuador.

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Los Choneros Gang Leader "Fito" Extradited to US from Ecuador

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Ecuador’s most notorious drug kingpin has been extradited to the United States, a month after he was recaptured following a prison escape that sparked a wave of violence across the country.

Jose Adolfo Macias, better known as “Fito,” was transferred Sunday from a maximum-security prison in the port city of Guayaquil to the city’s airport, where he was handed over to US officials who arrived earlier to carry out the extradition process, according to Ecuadorian prison authorities.

A US Department of Justice plane arrived in Guayaquil around 12:45 p.m., local time, and departed with the gang leader after 2 p.m., according to the city’s aviation agency.

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Ecuador's Most Wanted Man 'Fito' is Captured, Leader of Los Choneros

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Ecuador’s most wanted man and leader of the Los Choneros gang, Jose "Fito" Adolfo Macias, was captured on Wednesday, according to the Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.

Macias, known as “Fito,” escaped from a prison in Guayaquil in January 2024 while serving a 34-year sentence for homicide and narcotics trafficking.

His escape unleashed a wave of violence in Ecuador, prompting Noboa to declare an internal armed conflict and designate Los Choneros and 21 other criminal groups operating in the country as terror organizations.

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Intelligence Reports Claim Mexican Cartels Plotted Assassination of Ecuador’s President Noboa

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Ecuador has declared a state of “maximum alert” over an assassination plot against President Daniel Noboa.

In a statement entitled “The revenge of the bad losers” issued early on Saturday, the Ministry of Government said “all security protocols have been activated” due to the threat emanating from “criminal organizations, in collusion with political groups defeated at the polls”.

Noboa was re-elected earlier this month, promising to continue a crackdown on rampant cartel violence that plagues Ecuador. 

His opponent, Luisa Gonzalez, has continued to insist that the vote was fraudulent.

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Ecuador National Police Seize 8.8 Tons of Cocaine in Port of Guayaquil

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

The National Police force of Ecuador seized a massive cocaine shipment weighing 8.8 tons in a container of bananas at the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The seizure was announced as the largest bust far this year.

The shipment was destined for Belgium, which is characterized as the "the primary entry point for cocaine smuggled into Europe" according to the US State Department in 2020. The report identifies the Port of Antwerp as the main doorway into Europe, where criminal groups smuggle product from Latin America on container ships. In 2022, 110 tons of cocaine were seized at the Port of Antwerp, reported Belgian authorities.

Indeed, Kristian Vanderwaeren, Belgian customs official stated that 40% of the cocaine seized in Europe is found in Belgium.

Video: CmdtPoliciaEc Twitter

This seizure occurs while cocaine production in Latin America is at it's highest point ever, according to InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott in a recent podcast.

Ecuador in particular is emerging as a key player in the cocaine market. In 2022, 201 tons of cocaine were seized in Ecuador, a 44% increase from 2021. 

According to an article by France24, Ecuador does not actually produce coca, the crop used to make cocaine, but has emerged as a major drug player because of it's shared borders with Peru and Colombia, two major cocaine producing nations. Both of these nations saw increases in the production and siezures of cocaine last year.

Brookings Institution expert Vanda Felbab-Brown wrote that both the CJNG and Sinaloa Cartel are involved in Ecuador, forging alliances with local gangs to facilitate the transportation of cocaine through the country on the way to ocean routes.

Sources: @CmdtPoliciaEc Twitter, State Department Drug Report - INCSR 2020, Milenio, France24, Brookings - Vanda Felbab-Brown, Americas Quarterly Podcast, Politico.eu

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