Ecuador: US units join anti-drug operation near Guayaquil

Dozens of American military personnel and anti-drug agents took part in an operation conducted in the city of Samborondón, near Guayaquil in western Ecuador, targeting suspected operatives of the Mexican Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG).

The joint intervention forms part of the Ecuadorian government's fight against drug trafficking networks that use the country as a transit point to North American and European markets. It came just days after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa called, at the United Nations General Assembly, for a coordinated international response to what he described as a "transnational enemy," arguing that no country could defeat it alone.

According to available information, the Samborondón operation involved Ecuadorian forces backed by American agents, without the precise outcome — arrests, seizures or any potential legal proceedings — having yet been publicly detailed.

Ecuador, long spared from the levels of drug-related violence seen elsewhere in Latin America, has seen its security situation deteriorate in recent years as major Mexican and Colombian cartels have strengthened their presence on its territory, particularly in port areas such as Guayaquil.

The Noboa government has made security cooperation with Washington a central pillar of its policy, seeking increased support in intelligence, training and equipment for its law enforcement agencies.