The United States has taken a dramatic new step in its decades-long battle against Latin American drug cartels, designating two of Ecuador's most notorious gangs as foreign terrorist organizations and signaling a willingness to use deadly force against traffickers abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the move on September 4, 2025, during a high-profile visit to Quito, Ecuador, a trip overshadowed by a recent American military strike in the Caribbean that killed eleven alleged drug traffickers. The announcement, and the events surrounding it, have sent ripples through the region, raising questions about sovereignty, the future of U.S. military involvement, and the ever-evolving dynamics of the global drug trade.
"Now they're gonna help us find these people and blow them up, if that's what it takes," Rubio declared during his visit, as reported by BBC. The two gangs in question, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, have been blamed for a surge of violence in Ecuador, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The terrorist designation, Rubio explained, provides Washington with a host of new tools: "That includes the ability to kill them as well as take action against the properties and banking accounts in the U.S. of the group's members and those with ties to the criminal organizations," he told reporters in Quito, according to the Associated Press.
The timing of Rubio's announcement was no accident. Just days earlier, U.S. forces carried out a strike on a boat in the southern Caribbean Sea, a military operation President Donald Trump said was aimed at members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang transporting narcotics toward the United States. The White House has said the strike killed eleven drug traffickers, though the identities of those killed have not been released. Legal experts interviewed by BBC Verify have raised concerns that the strike may have violated international human rights and maritime law, as the U.S. military opted to "blow it up" rather than follow the standard procedure of stopping and boarding the vessel to arrest the crew and seize any contraband.
Rubio justified the action by stating the boat posed an "immediate threat" to the U.S., and emphasized that the president is determined to "wage war on these groups because they've been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded." The strike, and the broader escalation of U.S. policy in the region, has drawn a mixed reaction from leaders across Latin America. While some, like Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, have welcomed the U.S. crackdown, others have expressed unease about the prospect of expanded American military involvement and the potential erosion of national sovereignty.
On the diplomatic front, tensions flared further when the U.S. Defense Department reported that two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters in what it called "a highly provocative move designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations." Venezuela has yet to respond to the claim, but the episode has heightened anxieties about a possible escalation between the two countries.
For Ecuador, the stakes could hardly be higher. Violence has soared in recent years as criminal gangs battle for control over lucrative cocaine routes, with authorities blaming groups like Los Lobos and Los Choneros for contract killings, extortion, and deadly prison riots. According to government data cited by BBC, about 70% of the world's cocaine now passes through Ecuador in transit from neighboring Colombia and Peru to markets in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The country has also become a hub for traffickers from Mexico, Colombia, and even the Balkans, drawn by Ecuador's use of the U.S. dollar, weak laws, and a network of long-established gangs.
The violence has not only destabilized Ecuador internally but has also fueled a wave of migration to the United States. As cartel violence has surged, many Ecuadorians have fled north, seeking asylum. Yet, as immigration law experts told BBC, it remains unclear whether the new terrorist designation will help or hinder these asylum seekers. On the one hand, victims of the gangs may now be considered victims of terrorism, potentially strengthening their asylum claims. On the other, those who have paid extortion money to gangs could be penalized for "materially supporting" a terrorist organization, even if their involvement was coerced.
President Noboa, who has described his clampdown on criminal gangs as a "war," has been pushing for even closer cooperation with Washington. He has expressed a desire to change Ecuador's constitution to allow foreign military bases in the country once again, after the last U.S. base was closed in 2009. "I would be glad if the U.S. considered Los Lobos and Los Choneros as terrorist groups because that's what they really are," Noboa told the BBC earlier this year. He has also called for U.S. and European armies to join his fight against organized crime.
The terrorist designation means the U.S. can now target the assets and properties of anyone associated with Los Lobos and Los Choneros, and can share intelligence with the Ecuadorian government without limitations, potentially enabling "lethal" actions. Washington has also pledged $13.5 million in security aid and $6 million in drone technology to help Ecuador crack down on drug trafficking.
Los Choneros and Los Lobos, authorities say, are at the heart of Ecuador's spiraling violence. The gangs are deeply involved in the movement and sale of drugs, as well as in contract killings and extortion. Hundreds of inmates have been killed in prison clashes linked to gang rivalries since 2021. Ecuador's role in the global cocaine trade has only grown in recent years, in part due to the breakup of Colombia's FARC rebel group and the movement of coca fields closer to the Ecuadorian border. Traffickers have also exploited Ecuador's banana industry—the world's largest exporter of the fruit—using maritime shipping containers to smuggle cocaine abroad.
Internationally, the U.S. designations and strikes have sparked debate. The United Nations' latest World Drug Report notes that cocaine seizures in South America, including Ecuador, increased in 2022 compared to 2021, but does not single out Venezuela to the extent the White House has in recent months. Rubio, for his part, dismissed the U.N.'s assessment, saying, "I don't care what the U.N. says. I don't care."
Amid these developments, Ecuador extradited the leader of Los Choneros, José Adolfo Macías Villamar, to the U.S. in July 2025. Macías, who escaped from an Ecuadorian prison last year, was recaptured in June, two months after being indicted in New York on charges of importing thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States.
As Washington doubles down on its "war" against Latin American cartels, the region finds itself at a crossroads. Some leaders welcome the help, others worry about sovereignty, and ordinary citizens—caught in the crossfire—wait to see if these bold new measures will bring peace or further turmoil to their lives.