Ecuador launches U.S.-backed anti-drug operations: “We’re at war”

Ecuador on Sunday began two weeks of operations against drug traffickers with support from the United States, the latest joint show of force against drug cartels in the South American country.

The two countries are part of a 17-country cartel-fighting alliance launched by President Donald Trump at a summit earlier this month.

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, one of Trump’s staunchest allies on the continent, has spent the past two years targeting cocaine traffickers, but the rates of associated crimes including murders, disappearances and extortion have not fallen.

Interior Minister John Reimberg had announced on Tuesday a “very strong offensive” to begin Sunday in areas worst affected by drug-related violence.

Nighttime curfews have also been imposed in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Rios, Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas and El Oro during the next two weeks.

“We’re at war,” Reimberg said. “Don’t take any risks, don’t go out, stay home.”

Around 35,000 soldiers will be deployed along with armored cars and helicopters, according to images and video released by authorities.

“To the mafias: your time is up. Nothing can stop us,” Reimberg wrote in a social media post on Sunday.

No further details were provided, and it was not clear if U.S. soldiers would take part directly on Ecuadoran soil, as has happened previously during Noboa’s presidency.

Earlier this month, U.S. and Ecuadoran forces conducted joint strikes inside Ecuador, and Ecuador’s military sank a “narco sub” near its northern border.

Last week the FBI said it would open an office in Ecuador to investigate organized crime, money laundering, and corruption in conjunction with local police.

Around 70 percent of the drugs produced by Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest and second-largest cocaine producers, respectively, are shipped through Ecuador.