Why did US launch military operations in Ecuador? Here's what we know
Why did US launch military operations in Ecuador? Here's what we know
Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAYThu, March 5, 2026 at 6:34 PM UTC
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The United States' latest military operations in Ecuador mark an embrace of past American strategies fighting drug traffickers in Latin America.
U.S. Southern Command on March 3 said Ecuadorian and American military forces launched operations in Ecuador against “designated terrorist organizations." Ecuadorian officials on March 4 confirmed the joint operations.
However, both Ecuador and the United States haven’t specified who they’re targeting, locations of operations, or the scope of military actions.
As details emerge, here is what to know about operations in Ecuador.
1 / 0US military conducts deadly boat strikes against alleged drug traffickersSept. 15, 2025: The U.S. military killed three people in a strike on a boat allegedly trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea.What the US and Ecuador are saying
“The Ecuadorian people, along with other citizens across the region, have experienced the violence and corrosive consequences of narco-terrorism up close and in their neighborhoods,” Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said in a March 4 statement. “The time is now for our partners in the Western Hemisphere to take decisive action against this scourge with the assurance that SOUTHCOM has their back.”
The White House referred to Donovan’s statement. The Pentagon referred questions to Southern Command. In response to emailed questions, Steven McLoud, a spokesperson for Southern Command, said, "For operational security reasons, we will not provide specific details regarding the ongoing support for this operation."
The Ecuadorian defense ministry and embassy in Washington, DC, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
On March 2, President Daniel Noboa Azín said his country would launch joint operations with the United States beginning in March as a new phase against “narcoterrorism and illegal mining.” The president’s office said joint initiatives would include information sharing and operational coordination, such as at airports and ports.
Military personnel walk in front of the Ministry of Defense on the day a ceremony was held for four minors who were found dead, marking one month since they were first reported missing, in Quito, Ecuador January 8, 2025. REUTERS/Karen ToroCocaine, gold and militarized crime-fighting
Led by Noboa, a conservative, Ecuador has emerged as an ally to President Trump as the United States seeks greater influence in Latin America. At the same time, Ecuador, key in international cocaine trafficking, has seen crime skyrocket in recent years.
Cocaine seizures have reached record highs globally and specifically en route to the United States, according to the United Nations and the U.S. Coast Guard. Ecuador, situated on the Pacific Coast of South America, borders Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, according to the research group InSight Crime. Ecuador now ships about 70% of cocaine globally, including to the United States.
“Ecuador sits on basically a river of cocaine,” said Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights nongovernmental organization.
Ecuador has also seen increases in illegal gold mining, as well as illicit logging operations, said Douglas Farah, president of the security consulting firm IBI consultants and a former foreign correspondent, adding Ecuador has issues with criminal groups operating in other sectors.
Control of territory between criminal groups has led to spikes in violence, Farah said. In the last decade, Ecuador went from one of the safest countries in Latin America to one of the most dangerous.
The country also has rampant corruption, Isacson said, which has allowed organized crime to flourish.
Since taking office in 2023, Noboa has taken a hardline approach to fight crime, similar to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, another right-wing Trump ally who has overseen drops in crime with aggressive crackdowns that have suspended democratic and judicial norms in El Salvador. However, while Noboa has also been accused of human rights abuses, crime in Ecuador has continued to rise.
Farah said militarized approaches to Latin American drug cartels can yield short-term gains. But, he added, drug traffickers typically seek to influence government rather than fight it, resulting in entrenched corruption in military ranks.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa (L) is seen at the Independence Square to lay a floral offering with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a visit in Quito on March 1, 2026.Who could American forces target?
American forces have struck several boats officials accused of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. In 44 known strikes since September, at least 150 people have been killed, according to a New York Times tally. The U.N. human rights chief has said the tactics violate international law.
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Operations on Ecuadorian land signal an escalation in American military strategy.
In September, two Ecuadorian criminal groups, the Choneros and Lobos, were designated as foreign terrorist organizations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Considered by the research group InSight Crime as Ecuador’s two largest criminal groups, the Choneros began as a local gang before the Lobos splintered off. Both strengthened inside prisons.
Mexican drug cartels have also fought for drug trafficking routes in Ecuador. News outlets have reported increasing presence of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Jalisco New Generation, which was led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes until his death in a Mexican military operation in late February. Both cartels, which also have State Department terrorist designations, operate with the Choneros and Lobos.
Along with criminal groups from the Western Hemisphere, Albanian criminal groups have operated in Ecuador to smuggle drugs to Europe.
Inmates in cell block 3 bow their head as they listen to a soldier at the militarized Litoral prison,as part of the measures taken by Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa to crackdown on gangs, during a media tour in Guayaquil, Ecuador, February 9, 2024.What are the operations?
Multiple news outlets citing anonymous American officials have reported American military personnel are in Ecuador to advise and assist, but not participate directly in the operations.
It's unclear what the operations consist of − whether they're military attacks against suspected criminal groups or law enforcement raids to arrest wanted individuals. American officials have declined to provide information on the ongoing operations.
Ecuador has seen increases in American security aid, putting it on par with Colombia, a country accustomed to American military support combatting drug traffickers, Isacson said.
During a March 4 security forum in Ecuador’s capital Quito, Gen. Henry Delgado, head of the country’s armed forces joint command, said the first March 3 operation began a day after Noboa met with Donovan, of Central Command.
“We won’t be frightened, nor is anyone going to intimidate us,” Delgado said. “Because we are certain that what we’re doing is precisely to benefit our beloved Ecuador.”
President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Jan. 29, 2026.Decades-long war on drugs
The latest operations wouldn’t be the United States’ first time entering Latin American countries with military in more than five decades since Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. Past administrations have sent aid and personnel to Colombia and Peru.
Experts said these efforts have largely failed to stem the flow of drugs. Actions in Ecuador risk the same fate.
“It is a reflection of how little we have absorbed the lessons of what works and what doesn’t work in combatting crime,” Farah said. “Using a counter-drug strategy against a problem that is much more multifaceted than drugs is also not a way to get at a successful strategy.”
“I don’t see how this is going to keep other armed groups from just filling the vacuum,” Isacson said.
On March 4, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States is hosting a weekend summit in Miami with a dozen Latin American countries, including Ecuador, to address drug trafficking and immigration. Nearly all the countries have conservative or right-wing leaders aligned with Trump.
The White House didn’t list Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, the three largest countries in Latin America that also face issues with organized crime. All three have left-wing leaders. Leavitt said it’s possible other countries would join the Miami summit.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US military takes action in Ecuador, but some details remain unclear
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