On 1 July 2025, the United States designated the Ecuadorian criminal group Chone Killers as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The decision, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, triggers asset freezes, travel bans, and, under the Trump administration’s legal interpretation, authorises direct military action against the group and its leaders wherever they operate. The Chone Killers, which split from the already-designated Los Choneros in 2020, becomes the third Ecuadorian gang on the US terrorist list, following the designations of Los Choneros and Los Lobos in September 2024.

According to the US State Department, the Chone Killers have “carried out numerous attacks against civilians, law enforcement, and government officials, including high-profile assassinations of public figures.” Secretary Rubio stated that Ecuadorian gangs assist Mexican cartels in transporting and exporting illicit drugs to finance terrorism and criminal activity. Viewed from Washington, the designation is part of a partnership with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa to “protect our hemisphere by keeping illegal drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams that fund violent narcoterrorists.”

In Quito, the Noboa government has already declared 22 criminal groups as terrorists in January 2024 amid an internal armed conflict and has deepened security cooperation with the United States. Ecuador has granted immunity to foreign troops participating in operations against organised crime and has accepted the deployment of US military personnel on its soil. A proposed constitutional amendment to permit foreign military bases was rejected by referendum, but the administration has continued to seek unconventional security arrangements, including a reported outreach to private security entrepreneur Erik Prince. Analysts in Latin America note that the designation reinforces a bilateral architecture that prioritises military and intelligence coordination over traditional law enforcement.

The Chone Killers are active in drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and contract killings. Ecuador has become a principal transit corridor for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru, with an estimated 70 per cent of the drug passing through its territory, according to regional security monitors. The country recorded 9,216 homicides in 2025, making it one of the most violent in the hemisphere. The US designation is part of a broader campaign that has listed over a dozen Latin American groups as narcoterrorists since President Trump’s return to office. Military strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific since September 2025 have caused at least 215 deaths, according to AFP tallies. Human rights organisations and legal experts in the region have denounced these missile attacks, which rarely leave survivors, as violations of international law.

The dossier remains active. The US has signalled it will continue to use military force against designated groups, as demonstrated by the 12 June strike that killed Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero with Venezuelan cooperation. Further coordination between US and Ecuadorian forces is expected, with foreign troops operating under the immunity decree. The State Department has indicated that additional designations may follow as Washington expands its list of targeted organisations in the hemisphere.