U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced that the United States has designated the Ecuadorian criminal gang Los Tiguerones as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Los Tiguerones is one of the most dangerous criminal gangs in Ecuador, known for committing an extensive list of crimes ever since it was founded in the 2010s — including, but not limited to, drug and arms trafficking, extortion, kidnappings, and murders. Sec. Rubio detailed on social media that Los Tiguerones is one of the Ecuadorian gangs helping Mexican cartels export drugs to fund terrorism and other criminal activities.
The gang is also known for the live takeover of the Ecuadorian news network TC Television on January 9, 2024. At the time, gang members stormed the news channel and kidnapped its staff, placing makeshift explosive devices in journalists’ pockets. Investigations conducted in recent years indicate that Los Tiguerones has expanded its drug and illegal mining activities in the neighboring nation of Peru.
“The Trump Administration will continue to use all available tools to protect our nation by keeping illicit drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding violent narco-terrorists,” Rubio said. “Today’s action taken by the State Department further demonstrates that the Trump Administration continues to deliver on its promises to the American people to dismantle cartels and narco-terrorist networks in our region, ensuring the safety of the American people.”
Rubio made the announcement after meeting with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in Quito. Rubio is currently conducting a multi-day tour across Latin America that includes visits to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru — three countries whose heads of state have allied themselves with the United States in the joint fight against narco-terrorism and international criminal organizations.
At Quito, Sec. Rubio met with President Daniel Noboa to advance the United States and Ecuador’s cooperation in the fight to reduce transnational crime, counter illegal immigration, and promote the hemisphere’s security. Speaking at a press conference alongside Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Roberto Kury, Sec. Rubio said that the United States will also go after corrupt Ecuadorian officials in addition to the nation’s deadly gangs. Rubio said the U.S. will soon designate seven former Ecuadorian government members over their role in accepting bribes from terrorist organizations.
President Noboa awarded Rubio with Ecuador’s National Order of Merit, in the grade of Grand Cross, one of the highest awards the Ecuadorian state grants to individuals in recognition of their extraordinary achievements in security, development, and friendly relations.
Earlier this week, and prior to his arrival in Quito, Sec. Rubio published an opinion piece in Spanish titled, “A Hemisphere that Delivers.” The piece contains an account by Rubio detailing how the United States and President Donald Trump are directly collaborating with the three countries he is visiting this week to ensure security, economic growth, and the sovereign future of the region. The piece was locally published in Ecuador by the newspaper El Universo.
Rubio detailed that President Noboa is countering criminal organizations in Ecuador that once operated as if they were “untouchable. But they are not.”
Rubio explained that the United States has opened military coordination, public security, and critical intelligence capabilities with Ecuador through the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) and following the FTO designations of the Ecuadorian gangs Los Lobos, Los Choneros, and Chone Killers last year.
The secretary of state also said that the United States is revamping its extradition treaty with Ecuador so that that fugitive criminals will face “prompt and inevitable justice.” He further explained that U.S. commercial activity will expand in Ecuador as its security improves.