50 US Troops Helped Ecuador Arrest More than 30 People Linked to Mexican Drug Cartel

Fifty U.S. troops assisted Ecuadorian officials in arresting more than 30 members of a Mexican drug cartel.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. troops participated in an early-morning operation on Thursday to arrest members of a branch of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Ecuadoran Interior Minister John Reimberg wrote on X.

Around 70% of the world’s cocaine passes through Ecuadorian ports, according to the Congressional Research Service. This trade is worth an estimated $30 billion a year, according to Ecaudorian President Daniel Noboa.

Around 320 Ecuadoran police officers and 50 personnel from U.S. Southern Command took part in the operation, he said.

How the Arrests Took Place

Reimberg said the arrests followed an eight-month investigation. Over 30 Ecuadorans were arrested for allegedly belonging to the group with a “direct connection to the CJNG,” Reimberg wrote on X.

He added that the group “was engaged in the collection, intermediation, distribution, transportation, and marketing of large quantities of drugs originating from Colombia”

He said the drugs would have then “be shipped by sea from the ports of Guayaquil and Machala to Central America, the United States, and Europe.”

“The operation continues in development,” he said.

Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Roberto Kury said close cooperation between Ecuador and the U.S. has delivered “a lot of positive results” in recent months.

“We have found many drugs and shipments through this cooperation, so it’s very positive for Ecuador,” Kury told Fox News Digital at the U.N. General Assembly this week.

Trump Administration’s Drug Crackdown

The Trump administration has made cracking down on drug cartels in Latin America a key priority.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America, adding that repeated strikes on boats that the Army has undertaken in the region are a necessary escalation to stem the flow of illegal drugs purportedly harming Americans.

Successful efforts to mitigate border crossings through the southern U.S. have been one of the administration’s biggest victories.

Earlier this year, American commandos and Ecuadorian troops participated in a joint mission to dismantle a suspected criminal hub on the Ecuadorian coast. The two countries are closely allied and the U.S. is a large Ecuadorian trading partner.

The joint military operation has intensified the ongoing debate on Capitol Hill regarding executive authority in military engagement.

Congressional Republicans view these action as a decisive step against transnational narco-terrorism. But some Democratic lawmakers have raised legal concerns regarding the scope of such deployments.

The Pentagon also spent some $820 million over the course of Operation Southern Spear, which fired on at least 67 boats, killing at least 221 people, according to The Hill.