The Ecuadorean government has deployed more than 75,000 police officers and soldiers to four of the country’s most violence-wracked provinces, the interior minister says.
The authorities have also declared a night-time curfew in these areas as part of a “new phase” in their “war” on criminal gangs.
Since coming to office in November 2023, President Daniel Noboa has tried to quell drug-related violence but nevertheless Ecuador registered a record murder rate in 2025.
Noboa has also joined a US-led alliance of 17 countries aimed at fighting criminal cartels in the Western Hemisphere.
Ecuador’s geographical location – sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest producers of cocaine – has turned it into a key transit country for the illicit drug.
Around 70% of the cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru is estimated to be shipped through Ecuador.
Noboa’s government has been working with the administration of US President Donald Trump to quell the flow of cocaine from Ecuador to the US.
Last week, the FBI opened its first office in the Andean country, a move which came shortly after the two countries launched joint counter-narcotic operations.
Noboa was one of the Latin American leaders to attend an international meeting hosted by Trump in Mar-a-Lago, which the US authorities dubbed the “Shield of the Americas” summit.
At the summit, Trump likened criminal gangs to a “cancer” and urged his Latin American counterparts to use military force to root them out.
“We don’t want it spreading,” Trump added.
Credit: bbc.com
