Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The State Department is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Francisco Manuel Bermudez Cagua, an alleged leader of the Ecuadorian Los Choneros cartel who is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.
The reward, announced Thursday, is being offered under the Narcotics Rewards Program of the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Bermudez Cagua, also known as Churron, is the alleged leader of Los Choneros, which was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the Trump administration in September amid President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal drugs and immigration.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York indicted Bermudez Cagua, along with Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, the principal leader of the Los Choneros, in a superseding indictment unsealed June 27, 2025, charging him with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking offenses.
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