Overview
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Ecuador-based gang has been listed as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, a move that blocks U.S. property and generally bars transactions by U.S. persons.
- The State Department tied the designation to the gang’s role in narcotics trafficking and to violent attacks, including a 2024 live takeover of an Ecuadorian television studio that targeted civilians and journalists.
- Officials framed the action as a financial and law-enforcement tool designed to disrupt revenue streams and logistics that funnel drugs from Ecuador through Mexican cartels to the United States.
- Reporting notes the step builds on a broader U.S.-Ecuador counternarcotics push that has included Treasury sanctions on maritime networks and stepped-up interdictions, but critics question the group’s current strength and warn of risks to civilians and local fishermen from aggressive maritime tactics.
- The designation clears the way for asset freezes, tighter U.S. law-enforcement cooperation with Ecuador, and further maritime and financial pressure on trafficking routes, with the potential to change how drugs and money move through the eastern Pacific.