Ecuador Deploys 75,000 in U.S.-Backed Drug War

Ecuador launched its largest Ecuador military operation against drug trafficking on Sunday night, deploying 75,000 soldiers and police officers in a two-week offensive backed by the United States that will run through March 31. The campaign, accompanied by nighttime curfews in four of the country’s most violent coastal provinces, represents a dramatic escalation in President Daniel Noboa‘s war against the narco-trafficking networks that have turned the small Andean nation into one of Latin America’s deadliest countries. The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, covers Latin America security developments and their impact on the region’s investment climate.

Ecuador Military Operation Targets Coastal Drug Routes

Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed that operations began Sunday night with a concentrated deployment across Guayas, El Oro, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and Los Ríos — provinces that straddle the country’s key cocaine transit corridors between Colombia’s production zones and Pacific seaports. The deployment includes armored vehicle convoys, motorcycles, helicopters, and drones, with checkpoints and verification stations positioned to prevent criminal groups from relocating during nighttime curfew hours. Violators face prison sentences of one to three years.

The scale of the Ecuador military operation reflects the depth of the security crisis. Ecuador closed 2025 with 9,235 homicides, a national record driven by turf wars between criminal organizations competing to control drug transit routes. According to President Noboa, approximately 70% of the world’s cocaine passes through Ecuadorian ports, a claim that underscores the country’s position between Colombia and Peru, the planet’s two largest cocaine producers.

U.S. Boots on the Ground for the First Time

The operation marks the first acknowledged deployment of U.S. military forces on the ground in a Latin American anti-narcotics campaign under the current administration. U.S. Southern Command confirmed that joint operations began on March 3, with American personnel providing advisory support, intelligence, and logistical assistance to Ecuadorian forces. General Francis Donovan, Southern Command chief, described Ecuador as one of Washington’s strongest partners in disrupting narco-terrorist organizations.

While the Ecuadorian government has not confirmed direct U.S. troop participation in raids, reporting from The New York Times indicated that American soldiers are embedded with Ecuadorian units, assisting in operational planning. The partnership sits within the broader “Shield of the Americas” coalition of 17 countries formed at a Miami summit earlier this month under U.S. leadership. Last week, Ecuadorian forces bombed a FARC dissident training camp near the Colombian border with U.S. support, and Europol simultaneously dismantled a cocaine-trafficking network linked to Ecuador’s Los Lobos cartel, seizing four tonnes of cocaine across Ecuador, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Political Stakes and Regional Friction

Noboa’s alignment with Washington carries domestic risks. Ecuadorians voted against the return of foreign military bases in a referendum Noboa himself promoted, and press restrictions on coverage of the military operations have drawn criticism from transparency advocates. The president has framed the campaign as existential, telling citizens to stay home and declaring the country is at war. The offensive also comes amid an escalating trade dispute with Colombia, which Noboa has accused of failing to control drug production. Ecuador imposed 30% tariffs on Colombian imports in February, since raised to 50%, prompting Colombian retaliation including suspension of electricity exports — a conflict that threatens to destabilize commerce across the northern Andes at a moment when both economies can least afford it.