As part of a joint operation in the province of Sucumbíos, the USA and Ecuador destroyed a strategic hideout and training camp of narco-terrorists linked to the FARC dissident factions. SOUTHCOM confirmed the use of “lethal kinetic force” against designated targets.
According to a statement from the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis Donovan, on the orders of Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, “directed joint forces to support Ecuadorian forces on March 6 in conducting lethal kinetic operations against designated terrorist organizations in Ecuador.” Details of the victims were not immediately available.
- SOUTHCOM Commander Francis Donovan ordered deadly operations in Ecuador on March 6.
- The attacks were aimed at a training camp of the dissident faction of the FARC group.
- Washington is among the regional allies deployed against drug cartels in Ecuador.
- Noboa has strengthened security cooperation with the US after coming to power in 2023.
Ecuador’s right-wing president, Daniel Noboa, said the attacks targeted a training camp belonging to a dissident faction of the FARC guerrilla group.
Attack on the training base
The operation was carried out in the northeastern province of Sucumbios, near the border with Colombia. “We destroyed the hideout of Mono Tole, the leader of the CDF (Border Commands), and the training zone for drug dealers,” Noboa said on social media.
“I congratulate our joint forces and the Ecuadorian Armed Forces on the successful operation against narco-terrorists in Ecuador. This joint and decisive action is a strategic achievement for all nations of the Western Hemisphere committed to disrupting and defeating narco-terrorism,” Donovan said.
Discussion on strengthening cooperation
Noboa, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, previously said Washington was among “regional allies” involved in the operation against drug cartels using Ecuador’s ports to smuggle cocaine to international markets. Noboa met in Quito earlier this week with Donovan and Mark Schafer, head of US special operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
During the meeting, they discussed plans for information sharing and operational coordination at airports and ports, Noboa’s office said. About 70 percent of the drugs produced in Colombia and Peru are transported through neighboring Ecuador. It is one of the leading cocaine producing countries in the world.
A growing security threat
Drug trafficking has sparked a bloody war over territory that has turned one of Latin America’s safest countries into one of the most dangerous in a few years. The United States and Ecuador have strengthened their security cooperation since the right-wing Nobou came to power in 2023.
