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Ecuadorian authorities, assisted by US military personnel and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), have arrested more than 30 people suspected of belonging to a local group linked to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Interior Minister John Reimberg said Thursday.
According to Reimberg, the operation was carried out early Thursday across several cities by about 320 Ecuadorian police officers and 50 uniformed personnel from the US Southern Command. He said the suspects, all Ecuadorian nationals, allegedly belonged to a group with a direct connection to the CJNG.
Operation targets alleged cocaine trafficking network
The group is accused of trafficking cocaine from Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine-producing country, to international destinations through ports in southwestern Ecuador, the minister said.
Reimberg shared photographs and videos on “X”, the US social media platform, showing security forces conducting raids and taking suspects into custody.
Ecuador, a close US ally, has been cooperating with President Donald Trump’s efforts to combat organized crime across Latin America. Earlier this year, US special forces worked with Ecuadorian troops in an operation targeting a suspected criminal base allegedly run by a narco-terrorist group along the country’s coast.
Ecuador’s worsening security situation
Right-wing President Daniel Noboa defended his government’s campaign against criminal organisations in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
“We face significant criticism over our efforts to combat organized crime, while there is far less attention given to the growing number of people being victimized by these criminal groups,” Noboa said.
In the space of a few years, Ecuador has shifted from being regarded as one of South America’s safest countries to becoming a major cocaine trafficking route. The country has also faced growing influence from powerful criminal gangs linked to Mexican and Colombian drug cartels.
