US troops join Ecuador raids targeting Jalisco cartel network

About 50 American military personnel and federal agents joined local police in predawn sweeps that detained 36 suspects across three provinces.

Joint operations target coastal shipping corridors

Fifty American military personnel joined hundreds of Ecuadorian police officers in predawn raids across three provinces on Thursday, detaining dozens of suspects tied to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel.¹²³ The coordinated sweeps mark the first time United States Southern Command forces have taken direct part in ground raids inside Ecuador, according to Ecuadorian Interior Minister John Reimberg.¹

The operation unfolded early Thursday morning across Guayas, Los Ríos, and El Oro provinces.¹² Roughly 320 Ecuadorian police officers and 50 uniformed personnel from the United States Southern Command, alongside agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, moved against residential targets, including compounds in the gated communities of Puerto Mocolí and Riberas del Batán in Samborondón, outside Guayaquil.¹²

Ecuador's Attorney General's Office confirmed that 36 people were detained during the raids.¹ On Friday, an Ecuadorian judge ordered pretrial detention for all 36 suspects on organized crime charges, initiating a 90-day investigation phase to establish individual roles in the trafficking ring.¹ Reimberg said those arrested include the alleged leader and financier of the local network, which Ecuadorian authorities said maintained a direct connection to the Jalisco cartel without relying on local Ecuadorian gangs.¹²

According to Ecuadorian prosecutors and the interior ministry, the network collected cocaine originating in Colombia and moved the contraband through banana farms into refrigerated shipping containers at the major southwestern ports of Guayaquil and Machala.¹³ From there, shipments were dispatched by sea to Central America, the United States, and Europe.³¹ Reimberg put the value of seizures over the course of the eight-month investigation at $322 million.¹

Specialized gear and widening coordination

American personnel provided specialized tactical and surveillance assistance during the operation. Ecuadorian Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo and Reimberg said the United States military contributed infrared drones, satellite tracking, communications support, and night-vision capabilities.¹ Ground teams deployed vehicles fitted with drone-jamming antennas, while American specialists brought mobile equipment to extract data from seized mobile phones and computers in minutes.¹

Photographs and video footage released from the raids showed United States service members moving through residential compounds alongside Ecuadorian police, with some personnel wearing the insignia of the Marine Raiders, the Marine Corps' special operations unit.¹²

The joint raids followed an address by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he defended his administration's domestic security policies against external criticism.²³ "We face significant criticism over our efforts to combat organized crime, while there is far less attention given to the growing number of people being victimized by these criminal groups," Noboa said.² In comments regarding cross-border enforcement, Noboa stated that "no state can confront alone an enemy that crosses borders."¹

The arrests follow months of deepening security cooperation between the Noboa administration and the White House.⁴⁵ Ecuador declared an internal armed conflict in January 2024, designating 22 domestic criminal gangs as terrorist organizations and approving a decree that granted legal immunity to foreign personnel assisting state security forces.¹ The two nations operate under a 2023 status of forces agreement governing American military deployments.¹

Strategic hub in the Pacific drug corridor

Ecuador's geographic position between Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest producers of cocaine, has turned its commercial shipping ports into primary transshipment hubs.⁵² Noboa has estimated that roughly 70 percent of global cocaine supplies pass through Ecuadorian ports, generating an illicit trade valued at roughly $30 billion annually.³⁵

Washington and Quito declared an expanded operational campaign in March, following meetings in the capital between Noboa, Southern Command chief Francis Donovan, and Mark Schafer, the head of United States special operations in Central and South America.⁵¹ That initiative targeted logistical links at major seaports and airports, building on prior counter-narcotics missions that saw American special forces advise Ecuadorian military units in coastal provinces.⁵¹

United States maritime forces have also stepped up direct interdictions in adjacent waters, boarding and scuttling cartel refueling vessels operating in the eastern Pacific.¹ Ecuador is currently preparing the Taura air base in Guayas province for expanded multilateral operations alongside international partners, as prosecutors weigh whether Washington will formally seek the extradition of suspects detained in the Samborondón raids.¹

What this rests on

25 sentences trace to 5 sources.

All 5Documents 1Records 0Reporting 4People 0

1. 1 S sofx.com Third-party reporting · sofx.com · 26 Sep 2026 U.S. Commandos Join Ecuador Police Raids on Criminal Network Tied to Jalisco Cartel | SOFX See the source
2. 2 AA Anadolu Ajansı Third-party reporting · aa.com.tr · 25 Sep 2026 Ecuador arrests dozens allegedly linked to Mexican cartel with US support See the source
3. 3 M Military.com Third-party reporting · military.com · 25 Sep 2026 Mexican Drug Cartel Thwarted With US Troop Help Against Dozens of Offenders See the source
4. 4 LM Lauren Morganbesser Document · semafor.com · 27 Sep 2026 US troops join Ecuador’s drug war See the source
5. 5 BN BBC News Third-party reporting · bbc.com · 4 Mar 2026 US and Ecuadorean forces launch joint drug trafficking operation See the source