Ecuador arrests dozens allegedly linked to Mexican cartel with US support

US military personnel assisted Ecuadorian authorities in breaking up a local branch of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), resulting in the arrest of more than 30 suspected members, Ecuador’s interior minister said Thursday.

Ecuador, a close US ally, has been actively cooperating with President Donald Trump’s efforts to combat organized crime across Latin America.

Ecuadorian Interior Minister John Reimberg said on US social media company X that the operation, which took place early Thursday morning, was carried out jointly by US troops and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

More than 30 Ecuadorian nationals were arrested on suspicion of belonging to a group that authorities said had a direct connection to the CJNG.

According to Reimberg, the group allegedly trafficked cocaine from Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine-producing country, to international destinations through ports in southwestern Ecuador.

The operation was conducted across several cities and involved around 320 Ecuadorian police officers and 50 uniformed personnel from the US Southern Command, the minister said.

Reimberg also shared photographs and videos showing security forces carrying out raids and taking suspects into custody.

Right-wing President Daniel Noboa dismissed those concerns 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.

Earlier this year, US special forces worked alongside Ecuadorian troops in a joint operation targeting a suspected criminal base allegedly run by a narco-terrorist group along Ecuador’s coast.

In just a few years, Ecuador has shifted from being considered one of South America’s safest countries to becoming a major cocaine trafficking route.

The country has been increasingly affected by powerful criminal gangs with connections to Mexican and Colombian drug cartels.