ECUADOR · SECURITY
Key Facts
- The country Ecuador is an Andean country that uses the US dollar as its money, sits between Colombia and Peru, and is led by President Daniel Noboa, who has made the fight against criminal gangs his central policy.
- Why it matters Three Ecuadorian defendants are now in New York, including a leader of the Los Choneros gang, which the United States designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in September 2025 and ties to cocaine shipments into the United States.
- Why now Ecuador handed the three men over on Thursday, 29 October 2026, and the gang leader’s arraignment in Brooklyn was set for the afternoon of Friday, 30 October.
- What happened Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, known as Churrón, Daniel Salcedo and Ronald Herrera were extradited to New York, where Bermúdez Cagua faces cocaine and firearms charges.
- The numbers A conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years and up to life, and the US State Department offered up to US$5 million in December 2025 for information leading to his arrest.
- What it means for you US prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan are now building cases against the Ecuadorian side of a cocaine and weapons trade that reaches the United States.
- Still open The plea and trial date, which two or three more defendants Ecuador may send before the end of 2026, and whether Salcedo will cooperate with prosecutors.
- Power Index Ecuador ranks 8th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 38.2 points (October 2026 edition).
In Plain English
Los Choneros is an Ecuadorian criminal group that US prosecutors say controlled cocaine routes through Ecuador and worked with Mexican cartels. A superseding indictment is an updated charging document that replaces an earlier one, and in this case it was unsealed in June 2025.
The Eastern District of New York is the federal prosecution office and court based in Brooklyn, while the Southern District of New York is based in Manhattan. A mandatory minimum is the shortest prison term a judge may impose after a conviction on a charge.
Ecuador sent three defendants to New York on Thursday, 29 October 2026, among them Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, alias Churrón, a leader of the Los Choneros gang that the US Justice Department describes as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. US prosecutors in Brooklyn scheduled his arraignment for the afternoon of Friday, 30 October, on cocaine and firearms charges that carry a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York calls him the third top-ranking Los Choneros leader brought to the United States, after José Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias Fito, and Darío Javier Peñafiel Nieto, alias Topo. Two other men went with him in a handover announced on 14 October, businessman Daniel Salcedo, alias Bello, and Ronald Herrera, a former police intelligence officer, and Interior Minister John Reimberg said on Friday that he hopes two or three more will follow before the end of the year.
Who Bermudez Cagua Is and What He Faces
The indictment alleges that Bermúdez Cagua, aged 30, led Los Choneros with Fito and Topo from at least 2016 to 2025, controlling cocaine routes through Ecuador and working with Mexican cartels including the Sinaloa cartel. He is charged in the case numbered 25-CR-114 with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
US prosecutors say Ecuador convicted him of murder in about 2018 and sentenced him to 40 years in prison, and that he escaped custody in about 2024 before being recaptured in July 2026. The Ecuadorian news site Primicias reports that he fled the Monte Sinaí hospital in Guayaquil in May 2024 and that the 40-year sentence was for an armed attack in 2016.
Reward, Sanctions and the US Task Force
The US State Department offered up to US$5 million on 11 December 2025 for information leading to his arrest or conviction, and the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has also sanctioned Los Choneros. The Justice Department says the gang is responsible for significant drug trafficking into the United States, firearms trafficking from the United States and acts of extreme violence.
The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force created under Executive Order 14159, a federal partnership aimed at cartels, foreign gangs and smuggling rings. US Attorney Joseph Nocella said the transfer “delivers a decisive blow” to the gang’s leadership, and Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance Cole said the relationship with international partners “has never been stronger”.
Two More Men Sent to New York
Primicias reports that Salcedo is wanted by the federal court for the Southern District of New York and that he accepted extradition on 9 September 2026, and no source reviewed describes a US charge against Herrera. The outlet says Salcedo faces five counts covering cocaine trafficking, machine guns and money laundering, and that chats in the case show him offering to move funds into the banking system through cryptocurrency.
Primicias, citing testimony in Ecuador’s Purga case, says Salcedo designed a project called Banco del Bello that took in illicit cash and issued credit cards, and that Herrera said in judicial statements that he gave 116 Ecuadorian identity cards to dissident fighters of Colombia’s former FARC guerrilla in 2016. The US charges against all three men are allegations, and each is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
How Ecuador Became a Regular Extradition Partner
Primicias reports that a 2024 popular vote removed the constitutional ban on extraditing Ecuadorians, and Fito became the first to go on 20 July 2025, when he was sent to Brooklyn on a seven-count indictment. El Universo counts nine people extradited to the United States since then, while the US Attorney’s Office calls the 29 October transfer the eighth extradition from Ecuador in 2026, twice as many as in any previous year.
Earlier handovers included Omar Auseno Burgos, alias Llanero, whom Primicias reports was sentenced to 90 months in a Florida federal court on 21 August 2026 after admitting he moved 6,000 to 6,500 kilograms of cocaine. El Universo reports that Peñafiel Nieto, alias Topo, and Celso Moreira, alias Patucho Celso, were extradited on 18 June 2026.
What It Means for You
For US readers the case links cocaine that reaches American cities to a gang that prosecutors say also moved firearms out of the United States, which is why the charges are brought in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency, and Primicias reports that the Salcedo case includes alleged money laundering through cryptocurrency.
Travelers and investors with ties to Ecuador can read the handovers as a sign that Quito is willing to send gang leaders to US courts, a line Reimberg underlined on 30 October. In his words, “Tenemos en carpeta algunos que se van a ir para allá”, which means some cases are already on file for transfer to the United States.
What Is Not Known
The outcome of the Friday arraignment, including any plea and the trial schedule for Bermúdez Cagua, was not available in the sources reviewed on Saturday, 31 October. No source reviewed gives a date for the first Manhattan hearing of Salcedo and Herrera.
The El Universo report of the interview does not name the two or three defendants Reimberg expects to send before the end of 2026, and he said he hopes Salcedo will share information that could advance other investigations. No source shows that Salcedo has agreed to cooperate, and the US count of eight extraditions from Ecuador in 2026 differs from the Ecuadorian press tally of five in 2026 and nine since July 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Francisco Bermudez Cagua, known as Churron?
Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, alias Churrón, is a 30-year-old leader of the Los Choneros gang, according to US prosecutors. He was extradited from Ecuador to New York on 29 October 2026.
What charges does he face in the United States?
He is charged with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. A conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and up to life.
What is Los Choneros?
Los Choneros is an Ecuadorian criminal organization that the US Justice Department describes as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Prosecutors say it controlled cocaine routes through Ecuador and worked with Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel.
Who else did Ecuador extradite on 29 October?
Daniel Salcedo, alias Bello, and former police intelligence officer Ronald Herrera also went to New York. Primicias reports that Salcedo is wanted by the Southern District court on five counts including cocaine trafficking, machine guns and money laundering.
Will Ecuador extradite more people to the United States?
Interior Minister John Reimberg said on 30 October that he hopes two or three more will go before the end of the year. He did not name them.
Sources: US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, 30 October 2026; US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, 11 December 2025; US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, 21 July 2025; El Universo, 30 October 2026; Primicias, 29 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief