Sanctioning Ecuador-based Cocaine Network Linked to Violent Gangs and Mexican Cartels

Stopping the flow of drugs to the United States is one of the Trump Administration’s highest priorities.  Today, the United States sanctioned an Ecuador-based network of 15 individuals and entities and identified 10 Ecuador-based fishing vessels as blocked property for their role in trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine each month from South America to Mexico, destined for distribution in our homeland.

Today’s actions expose and disrupt the deepening convergence between Ecuador’s most violent terrorist organizations and major Mexico-based cartels, including the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) Sinaloa Cartel and Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which have accelerated the flow of cocaine into the United States.  The network targeted today also maintains ties to two Ecuador-based terrorist organizations – Los Choneros and Los Lobos – that the Department of State designated as FTOs in September 2025.

These trafficking operations generate billions of dollars annually for cartels responsible for a significant share of the deadly drugs flowing into our communities.  The United States will continue to use all our tools to dismantle the cartels profiting at the expense of American lives.

Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the international proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and E.O. 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and their supporters.  For more information on today’s action, see the Department of the Treasury’s press release.