Ecuador is keeping up the fight against transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that have been wreaking havoc in the South American country. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa recently called on partner nations to help support his war on drugs, arguing that his country needs more armed forces to combat terrorist groups.
Hit by a wave of violence, Ecuador took a series of measures, including deploying thousands of troops throughout the territory and declaring an “internal armed conflict,” which remains fully in effect. The Noboa administration has also relied on renewed states of emergency to curb the internal unrest and bring back security, with a recent extension announced in early October for several key coastal provinces, including El Oro, due to the surge in organized crime and targeted attacked.
Reinforced border and strategic bases
Among some its recent moves, the Ecuadorian government said it would build two provisional military bases on the border with Peru, in the El Oro province, to fight back TCOs whose presence increased in the region. The security situation in this border remains volatile, prompting the Peruvian government to also reinforce its side of the border due to the spillover of criminal activity from Ecuador.
Among the TCOs are Mexican, Venezuelan, and Colombian armed groups, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), known for their extreme violence. Ecuador and the United States have designated several cartels, including the CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel, and the Tren de Aragua, as terrorist organizations.
The bases will be located in Pasaje and Puerto Bolívar, strategic points where TCOs use the port infrastructure to traffic large shipments of cocaine, camouflaged among export products. With this move, Ecuador seeks to reinforce security and cut off the routes used by narcotraffickers and organized crime.
“These bases were strategically selected as part of a military and police intelligence plan which, with the support of advanced technology, seeks to block the movements and routes used by these organizations,” Jorge Serrano, advisor to the Peruvian Congress Intelligence Commission, told Diálogo in an April interview. “The objective is to stop their expansion and prevent them from establishing themselves permanently in that region.”
On a war footing
“We are at war. We are facing an offensive from criminal groups and now it is our turn to launch a counter-offensive,” President Noboa said in an interview with Ecuadorian broadcaster Radio Canela. Noboa said that the Security Bloc is in the process of reorganization, mobilizing resources and personnel to the areas most affected by the narco-terrorist organizations, which engage in turf wars for control.
“Ecuador is facing an alarming crisis. It is surrounded by Colombia and Peru, where the most powerful drug cartels operate,” Serrano said. “It also suffers the influence of Venezuela, where organized crime maintains alliances with international terrorist networks.”
According to Serrano, “a key factor in this crisis is the expansion of the Tren de Aragua, designated as a terrorist organization, backed by the regimes of Venezuela and Cuba. Unlike other criminal groups, it not only seeks profit, but also operates as a tool for regional destabilization, through attacks with political aims.”
Puerto Bolívar
“The new bases are part of Ecuador’s effort to recover territory and strengthen security in the region,” said Serrano. “A critical point is Puerto Bolívar, one of the country’s main ports, which has practically been taken over by narco-terrorist gangs, through bribery and violence against the security forces.”
Puerto Bolívar, located in Machala, capital of the El Oro province, was once a gastronomic and tourist destination. Now it faces an unprecedented security crisis. The violence stemming from the dispute between criminal groups operating in its fishing port has plunged the community into fear, with reports of coordinated bomb attacks on homes and businesses continuing through October.
“Dozens of families have abandoned their homes due to the increase in murders and bomb attacks on homes and businesses,” Ecuadorian daily Primicias reported. According to the daily, in response, security forces have intensified patrols in strategic areas to contain the wave of violence.
Battlefield and international support
Local gangs and terrorist groups such as Los Choneros are embroiled in a dispute between the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel, which are seeking to control key routes for drug and arms trafficking in Latin America, as well as the corridors for the shipment of cocaine from the Ecuadorian coast to Central America, the United States, and Europe, Mexican daily El Sol de México reported. The U.S. Department of State has identified both the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel as leading the trafficking of fentanyl to the United States.
According to Serrano, “the new Ecuadorian bases will allow intelligence operations to be carried out in cooperation with the United States, to identify and capture the leaders and key operators of these transnational terrorist organizations.”
The United States has been steadfast in its support to Ecuador in the fight against narcoterrorism, implementing various programs that included trainings for Ecuadorian law enforcement officers, the Armed Forces, and the judicial system. This support was further solidified in September 2025, with the designations of Los Lobos and Los Choneros as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, which unlocks greater mechanisms for intelligence sharing and counterterrorism funding.
“The alliance with the United States has a positive impact on Ecuador, strengthening the training of its military and security forces to act,” Serrano said. “Today, the Ecuadorian forces are better equipped, better prepared, and have a more sophisticated intelligence system than a few years ago.”
For Serrano, the U.S. designation of Mexican cartels, Central American gangs, and the Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations marks a turning point in the fight against organized crime in the region. “With this measure, the opportunity arises to strengthen collaboration between national intelligence services, to develop a joint strategy to combat this threat more effectively.”
Note: This article is a revised and updated version of a report originally published in April 2025.
