US designates Ecuador’s Chone Killers gang as “terrorist” organisation

Washington imposes sanctions on violent crime group accused of carrying out high-profile assassinations and helping Mexican drug cartels.

WASHINGTON: The United States State Department has officially designated the Ecuadorean criminal gang “Chone Killers” as a foreign terrorist organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Announcing the sanctions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the group has orchestrated numerous violent attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers, and government officials, including high-profile assassinations of public figures. The move is part of a broader, aggressive campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration against organised crime and narcotics trafficking in Latin America, which has previously seen terrorist designations applied to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

According to US officials, Ecuadorean street gangs actively assist Mexican cartels in transporting and exporting illegal drugs, establishing lucrative revenue streams that fund violent narcoterrorism. Washington emphasised its commitment to collaborating with Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa to disrupt these financial channels and suppress the flow of illicit narcotics.

Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally welcomed the measures, issuing a statement on X to thank the United States for its firm endorsement of President Noboa’s total war against criminal factions. Noboa, a staunch ally of the Trump administration, has increasingly relied on US-backed crackdowns, deploying the military and enforcing strict curfews across several volatile provinces to dismantle deep-seated gang operations.