View over northern Quito (Ecuador), March 4, 2026. RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP
The FBI is opening an office in Ecuador to investigate organized crime, money laundering, and corruption in conjunction with local police, Interior Minister John Reimberg said on Wednesday, March 11.
The agreement marks a new chapter in the security cooperation between Ecuador and the United States, partners in the 17-country cartel-fighting alliance launched by President Donald Trump at a summit last weekend.
Reimberg said that the FBI's work in Ecuador would "begin immediately."
The US Embassy in Quito called the opening of the FBI office a "strategic and operational milestone" which would boost the capacity to "identify, dismantle, and bring to justice those who traffic drugs, launder money, smuggle weapons, and finance terrorism."
