The United States on Wednesday named Ecuador’s Chone Killers gang a foreign terrorist organization, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, escalating Washington’s pressure on criminal networks operating in the region.
In a statement, Rubio said the group “has committed numerous attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers, and government officials,” including the high-profile assassinations of public officials. He added that the gang has also been labeled as “specially designated global terrorists.”
The move means Chone Killers leaders, as well as individuals linked to the group, may face U.S. sanctions and potential criminal prosecution.
Ecuador’s foreign ministry welcomed the U.S. designation, which comes as the country continues to confront a surge in gang violence tied to the drug trade.
“The Government of Ecuador thanks the firm support of the United States for the decision by President Daniel Noboa to maintain an all-out fight against criminal organizations,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X.
The Chone Killers are an offshoot of Los Choneros, a gang that the United States previously designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2020.
Under the designation, any assets held by the group or its members within U.S. jurisdictions are frozen.
“The Trump administration, in partnership with Ecuador and President Daniel Noboa, will continue to protect our hemisphere by keeping illicit drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding violent narcoterrorists,” Rubio added.
Ecuador, once regarded as one of South America’s safest nations, has become a key cocaine trafficking hub and is now grappling with gangs connected to Mexican and Colombian cartels. Last month, authorities found eight bodies in plastic bags in an area known for narco-trafficking activity.
Los Lobos (The Wolves) and Los Choneros (after the city of Chone) are among Ecuador’s main drug trafficking and extortion gangs, with ties to international cartels. In September, Los Lobos was designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
Criminal gang violence continues unabated in Ecuador following the recapture in June 2025 of the country’s biggest drug lord, Adolfo Macías, who leads Los Choneros, after his escape from a maximum-security prison in 2024. In July 2025, the Ecuadoran government extradited Macías to the United States, where he faces multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Noboa, a staunch ally of President Trump, has imposed curfews and deployed the military to several provinces in a U.S.-backed crackdown aimed at stamping out gang activity.
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American commandos recently joined Ecuadorian troops in a joint mission aimed at dismantling a suspected criminal hub operated by an alleged narco-terrorist organization along the country’s coast.
In early March, the United States and Ecuador launched joint military operations against “designated terrorist organizations” in the country.
The Trump administration has designated a number of other Latin American gangs and drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including the Mexican Sinaloa cartel and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
Last month, Mr. Trump said the U.S. military killed Tren de Aragua’s alleged leader. The president said on Truth Social that U.S. Southern Command carried out a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” to “successfully execute” Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Niño Guerrero.
contributed to this report.
