US, Ecuador Launch Joint Military Operations Against Terrorist Organizations

US Southern Command on Tuesday stated that the US military had conducted a joint operation with Ecuadorian forces against “designated terrorist organizations” in Ecuador, as the Trump administration continues to fight narco-terrorism. 

“We commend the men and women of the Ecuadorian armed forces for their unwavering commitment to this fight, demonstrating courage and resolve through continued actions against narco-terrorists in their country,” Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said in a post on X.

The announcement comes after Donovan visited Ecuador on March 1 for a two-day visit, where he met President Daniel Noboa and senior Ecuadorian defense officials in Quito. They discussed security cooperation and US support of Ecuador’s efforts to combat narco-terrorism. 

A Pentagon spox told the Epoch Times that the joint effort does not entail US troops in combat. 

“Ecuador is one of the United States’ strongest partners in disrupting and dismantling Designated Terrorist Organizations in the region,” Donnovan said on Tuesday. “The Ecuadorian people have witnessed firsthand the terror, violence, and corruption that these narco-terrorists inflict on communities across the region.”

Noboa announced on Monday that Ecuador had entered a new phase in its fight against narcoterrorism and illegal mining.

“In the month of March, we will conduct joint operations with our regional allies, including the United States,” he said on X. “The security of Ecuadorians is our priority, and we will fight to achieve peace in every corner of the country.”

As the Epoch Times notes further, the operations come amid increased U.S. involvement in the region, including the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.

The Trump administration in September 2025 classified two Ecuadorian cartels, Los Choneros and Los Lobos, as foreign terrorist organizations.

“Los Choneros and Los Lobos have attacked and threatened public officials and their families, security personnel, judges, prosecutors, and journalists in Ecuador,” the U.S. State Department said in a September 2025 statement.

On Feb. 2, the U.S. Coast Guard detained three suspected narco-terrorists northwest of Ecuador during Operation Pacific Viper, an ongoing U.S. Coast Guard-led campaign launched in early August 2025, to undermine drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

In March 2025, Noboa called for U.S. special forces, with assistance from Brazil and Europe, to dismantle the international narco-terrorist organizations, which have swelled to thousands of armed members.

“We need to have more soldiers to fight this war,” Noboa told the BBC at the time. “Seventy percent of the world’s cocaine exits via Ecuador. We need the help of international forces.”

Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.