Police conduct an operation searching for weapons and or drugs as part of an effort to combat criminal groups, in the Nueva Guayaquil neighborhood of Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Cesar Munoz, File)
President Daniel Noboa, center, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo, left, and new Army Chief Gen. Henry Delgado arrive at the change-of-command ceremony in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The U.S. Treasury on Thursday sanctioned 15 people for their involvement in a network that allegedly shipped thousands of kilograms of cocaine per month from Ecuador through Mexico, destined for the United States.
The announcement comes as the U.S. has ramped up attacks against fishermen in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing more than 200, as part of the Trump administration’s push to expand joint anti-drug trafficking operations in Latin America.
“Operating under the guise of legitimate fishing businesses, a fleet of Ecuador-based vessels near Manta, Ecuador, secretly transfers cocaine to small power boats — known as go-fast vessels — that transit north through the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPAC), en route to the United States,” the Treasury Department said.
