How deeply are Mexican cartels embedded in Ecuador?

On 24 September, Ecuadorian authorities, alongside US South Command military forces and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, arrested 39 suspected criminals with a direct link to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in separate raids in Guayas, El Oro, and Los Ríos. The day before, military forces, also with US support, killed a Los Choneros gang leader with links to the Mexican cartel and two others in an operation in Manta.

Laura Calderón Fuentes, South America Analyst at ACLED, said:

“The latest joint operations between Ecuadorian and US forces expose how deeply Mexican cartel networks are embedded in Ecuador’s criminal landscape. Rather than operating only through alliances with local gangs, ACLED data show these networks have established direct links inside the country - pointing to a more entrenched presence than is often assumed. 

“Ecuador is increasingly becoming a testing ground for US military engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean, and could offer an early indication of what the US security cooperation with other Latin American and Caribbean countries in the framework of the Shield of the Americas. US support in Ecuador is visibly shifting from technological and technical support, intelligence sharing, and resource allocation to boots-on-the-ground operations and US direct military involvement, especially targeting transnational networks with connections to criminal groups that the US has labeled as ‘narco-terrorists.’”

“Since late August, the US has stepped up its direct military involvement in operations coordinated with Ecuadorian authorities. ACLED records at least eight events targeting boats in the Pacific, which the US has suspected of working with Los Choneros and supplying fuel to drug trafficking vessels. These renewed operations come months after an Ecuadorian airstrike carried out with US support in Sucumbíos in March targeted a dairy farm allegedly identified as a criminal camp, drawing scrutiny over human rights abuses.

“The developments of the past month hint that operations will likely concentrate in provinces like Guayas, Manabí, and El Oro, where ACLED records the highest levels of violence since it began covering gang violence in the country, due to the presence of strategic ports for international drug trafficking in cities such as Guayaquil, Machala, and Manta.

“Nonetheless, for security efforts to show long-lasting results in combating organized crime beyond mere operational results such as arrests, killing of criminal leaders, or drug seizures, cooperation also should aim to strengthen institutional capabilities in the judicial system, weaken groups’ finances, and overcome the systemic conditions that allow crime to regenerate”