---
title: "U.S. Labels Ecuador's Chone Killers a Terrorist Group, Widening a Crackdown on Latin American Gangs"
description: "The United States designated Ecuador's Chone Killers gang as a foreign terrorist organization, extending a Trump administration policy of applying terrorism law to Latin American criminal groups — a move Washington casts as a tool against cartel violence and that critics warn blurs the line between crime-fighting and war."
category: "World"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/world
author: "Valeria Ortiz"
published: 2026-07-02T04:18:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-02T04:18:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/u-s-labels-ecuador-s-chone-killers-a-terrorist-group-widening-a-crackdown-on-lat
tags: ["Ecuador", "Chone Killers", "terrorism designation", "State Department", "Latin America", "world"]
---
# U.S. Labels Ecuador's Chone Killers a Terrorist Group, Widening a Crackdown on Latin American Gangs

The United States designated Ecuador's Chone Killers gang as a foreign terrorist organization, extending a Trump administration policy of applying terrorism law to Latin American criminal groups — a move Washington casts as a tool against cartel violence and that critics warn blurs the line between crime-fighting and war.

The United States has added another Latin American gang to its terrorism blacklist, deepening a policy that treats organized crime as a national-security threat.

## The designation

The State Department designated Ecuador's Chone Killers as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, [it announced](https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/07/terrorist-designation-of-chone-killers/). Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the gang had "committed numerous attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers and government officials, including high-profile assassinations," and accused Ecuadorean gangs of helping Mexican cartels move drugs, [Al Jazeera reported](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/2/us-designates-ecuadors-chone-killers-gang-as-terrorist-organisation). The dual designation freezes any U.S. assets the group holds and makes it a crime for Americans to provide it "material support."

## Who the Chone Killers are

The Chone Killers are a splinter of Los Choneros — the larger Ecuadorean gang, itself already U.S.-designated — that fragmented in 2020 after the killing of its leader. Reported to number around 2,000 members, the group is active around Guayas Province and the port city of Durán, a cocaine-trafficking hub, and has been tied to killings, kidnapping and extortion. Its own leader, known as "Ben 10," was reported killed in late 2024.

## Ecuador's crisis

The move lands amid a security emergency that has made Ecuador one of the deadliest countries in the region; its homicide rate reached roughly 51 per 100,000 in 2025, according to InSight Crime. President Daniel Noboa declared an "internal armed conflict" in early 2024 and sent the military against the gangs. A close ally of President Trump, Noboa has welcomed U.S. help — the two governments announced a joint operation earlier this year — and Ecuador's foreign ministry thanked Washington for the designation.

## A contested tool

The Chone Killers join a lengthening list. Since early 2025 the administration has applied terrorism labels to Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, Haitian gangs and, more recently, Brazilian groups. The approach has drawn scrutiny. Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies note that terrorism designations were built for politically motivated groups and that profit-driven criminal gangs do not fit the traditional definition, [warning](https://www.csis.org/analysis/when-crime-becomes-terror-rethinking-fto-designation) the labels can push governments toward military rather than judicial responses. Human-rights monitors, including Freedom House, have also cautioned that Ecuador's crackdown — energized by the terrorism framing — has strained civil liberties under prolonged states of emergency. Neither the gang nor, beyond its thanks, Ecuador's government offered further comment.

## Sources

- [US designates Ecuador's Chone Killers gang as 'terrorist' organisation](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/2/us-designates-ecuadors-chone-killers-gang-as-terrorist-organisation)
- [Terrorist Designation of Chone Killers](https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/07/terrorist-designation-of-chone-killers/)
- [When crime becomes terror: rethinking the FTO designation](https://www.csis.org/analysis/when-crime-becomes-terror-rethinking-fto-designation)