US and Ecuador Launch Joint Military Raids Against Cartels

The United States and Ecuador launched joint military operations on March 3, 2026, targeting designated narco-terrorist organizations and drug trafficking networks. Under the Trump administration's Operation Southern Spear, Donald Trump expanded U.S. efforts from maritime interdictions to terrestrial strikes, signaling a shift toward using military power over criminal justice solutions to defeat cartels. The operations specifically target Los Choneros and Los Lobos, which the U.S. Department of State designated as foreign terrorist organizations in September 2025.

Following a series of meetings in Quito between Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and U.S. Southern Command leaders, U.S. Special Forces began providing intelligence, planning, and logistical support. While U.S. officials maintain that American troops are not participating in direct combat, Ecuadorian commandos are conducting the actual raids. One early operation successfully dismantled a Los Lobos network linked to Albanian traffickers, resulting in 16 arrests and the seizure of over 7 tons of cocaine across Ecuador, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

President Noboa stated that approximately 70 percent of the world's cocaine flows through Ecuadorian ports, necessitating this international intervention. The operations occur alongside other aggressive U.S. foreign policy actions, including the capture of Nicolás Maduro and a concurrent military campaign in Iran. President Trump is scheduled to meet with Noboa and other Western Hemisphere leaders in Miami on March 7 to further discuss regional security and narcotics control.