Trump administration designates Ecuador’s Chone Killers gang as foreign terrorist group - EUROPE SAYS
WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Trump administration has added another Ecuadorian gang to the United States list of foreign terrorist organizations as it continues its campaign against what it calls narco. . .
WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Trump administration has added another Ecuadorian gang to the United States list of foreign terrorist organizations as it continues its campaign against what it calls narco terrorists. Ecuadorian gang the Chone Killers has been designated a foreign terrorist organization, a move that allows the U. S. to impose sanctions and pursue criminal prosecutions against anyone associated with the group. (TNND)Ecuadorian gang the Chone Killers has been designated a foreign terrorist organization, a move that allows the U. S. to impose sanctions and pursue criminal prosecutions against anyone associated with the group. In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the gang “has committed numerous attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers, and government officials, including high-profile assassinations of public officials. ”The U. S. had already designated the gang’s original faction, Los Choneros, as a terrorist organization. “We have designated as terrorist organizations two groups that operate here in Ecuadorian territory. One is Los Lobos and the other is Los Choneros. We’ve designated them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and that brings with it all sorts of options for the United States to work in conjunction with the Government of Ecuador in the future to stamp these groups out,” Rubio said in remarks ON Sept. 4, 2025, while meeting with Ecuadorian officials. The U. S. has been working closely with Ecuador, and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa is an ally of President Donald Trump. In March, the U. S. military began conducting joint operations with Ecuador’s armed forces to target suspected narco terrorist gangs in the country, part of a broader campaign of U. S. military intervention in Latin American countries. “These groups are not common gangs. These are narco terrorist groups that attack our region, that attack our citizens, affect the country’s development, affect our ports. And a lot of it comes from our borders,” Noboa told CNN in May. The foreign terrorist designation comes after a Justice Department announcement of the arrests of eight members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, part of what the administration has described as an ongoing crackdown on alleged gang activity since Trump returned to the White House last year. “We’ve arrested 29,000 violent gang members since President Trump was sworn in. We’ve disrupted and dismantled 2700 gangs around the country. That is a 365% increase from the same time period in the last prior administration,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday. The State Department alleges Ecuadorian gangs are helping run drugs to Mexican cartels, helping them further finance terrorism and other crimes. Tags:marco rubiosecretary of state