US Treasury Sanctions Ecuador Cocaine Trafficking Network
· World · The Independent, ABC News
The US Treasury sanctioned 15 individuals on Thursday for operating a drug trafficking network that moved thousands of kilograms of cocaine per month from Ecuador through Mexico to the US. The targeted operatives belong to Ecuadorean gangs Los Choneros and Los Lobos, which the US has designated as foreign terrorist organizations alongside the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG. Ecuadorean Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo announced that two US warships with interceptor boats and helicopters will patrol Ecuador's territorial waters to combat maritime drug smuggling. Three Black Hawk helicopters have arrived in Manta to support operations that aim to triple the country's maritime interdiction capabilities. Ecuador recorded its highest homicide rate in decades last year at 50 murders per 100,000 residents amid escalating cartel violence.
Why it matters
The expanded joint counter-narcotics operations between the US and Ecuador aim to dismantle transnational supply chains feeding drug cartels in North America and curb violent turf wars in Ecuadorean coastal ports.
Read the original report — The Independent
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