The United States and Ecuador carried out coordinated strikes inside Ecuador as part of an operation targeting drug trafficking, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a statement on Friday.
SOUTHCOM said its commander, General Francis Donovan, acting on orders from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, directed the joint force to support Ecuadorian troops conducting “lethal kinetic operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations” within Ecuador. “We are advancing alongside our partners in the fight against narcoterrorism,” the statement posted on X said.
The strikes took place in Sucumbíos province in northeastern Ecuador, near the Colombian border. Ecuador’s Defense Ministry said helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, river boats and drones were used to locate and strike a drug traffickers’ training camp in the area.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa posted on Instagram that the site belonged to the Comandos de la Frontera (CDF), a dissident faction of the FARC guerrilla group. He said the operation “destroyed the hideout of Mono Tole, the leader of the CDF, and a training area for drug traffickers,” sharing video of a compound exploding and sending up a plume of smoke. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether anyone was killed or captured.
Noboa, who is politically aligned with US President Donald Trump, has prioritized a military-led crackdown on organized crime and closer security cooperation with Washington. His administration has also imposed tariffs on neighboring Colombia, accusing it of not doing enough to curb drug flows.
Earlier this week in Quito, Noboa met with General Donovan and Mark Schafer, head of US Special Operations for Central and South America and the Caribbean. Ecuador’s presidency said the talks focused on sharing intelligence and coordinating operations at airports and seaports.
Noboa is expected to attend the Trump administration’s “Shield of the Americas” meeting in Miami, a regional summit that will bring together several conservative leaders to discuss security, drug trafficking and migration.
The joint strikes mark a continuation of intensified bilateral efforts to disrupt drug trafficking networks operating along the Colombia-Ecuador border. SOUTHCOM and Ecuadorian officials have framed the action as part of a broader campaign against so-called narcoterrorism.