The United States designates the Ecuadorian gang Los Tiguerones as a “terrorist organization”

Visiting Ecuador, the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, announced that his country had described, since Wednesday September 9, the Ecuadorian criminal gang Los Tiguerones as“foreign terrorist organization”as part of their fight against drug trafficking in Latin America.

This country, once one of the safest countries in Latin America, is faced with a dizzying rise in crime linked to drug trafficking. “We are not talking about an ordinary mafia, we are not talking about criminals, we are talking about terrorists”declared Mr. Rubio on an official visit to this close ally of Washington, after Colombia and before Peru. He described criminal groups with “weapons and equipment similar to those of the armies of certain countries”.

Marco Rubio also promised to send a coast guard patrol boat and five new interception vessels. He further announced that seven former Ecuadorian officials would be sanctioned “for accepting bribes” linked to illegal groups. Among them are a former director of the prison authority, a former parliamentarian and several former magistrates, the State Department then detailed in a press release. They are now prohibited from entering the United States.

His visit comes as Washington and Quito, close allies, are carrying out joint military operations against fishing boats accused of serving drug traffickers in the Ecuadorian Pacific. The military sank six boats in two weeks, sparking criticism from human rights defenders.

The American army also announced on Wednesday evening that it had struck a boat suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean, killing three people.

One homicide per hour

With its ports on the Pacific and its geographical position between Colombia and Peru – the world’s largest producers of cocaine – Ecuador has in just a few years become the starting point for 70% of the world’s cocaine, destined for the United States and Europe, in particular.

The Tiguerones gang made headlines in early 2024, when masked men stormed a television studio during a live broadcast, opening fire and forcing terrified staff to lie on the floor.

This criminal organization is involved in drug and arms trafficking, as well as illegal mining, money laundering, extortion and assassinations, according to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory.

It is one of the main actors in the war between criminal groups in Ecuador, which has become the most violent country in the region, with a homicide rate of 51 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, or around one per hour.

Right-wing President Daniel Noboa, who is one of Donald Trump’s main allies in the region and with whom Marco Rubio spoke, has been leading a head-on fight against organized crime since 2024 with the military support of the United States. The country is the latest to join the “Shield of the Americas”, a coalition of countries led by Donald Trump to fight drug trafficking and organized crime in the region.

During his trip to Ecuador, the American official also estimated that Mexico was still not doing so. “not enough” against drug cartels, judging that it will be necessary “confront this threat one way or another”. There is “huge territories in Mexico which are not governed by the State” but by “narco-terrorist organizations”declared the head of American diplomacy. He nevertheless recognized progress in this area in the country, led by left-wing President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2025, the US State Department has designated “terrorist organizations” several Latin American criminal groups, including Los Choneros, Los Lobos and Chone Killers in Ecuador, the Tren de Aragua in Venezuela and the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.