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The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 15 Ecuador-based individuals and 10 vessels, targeting a major international drug network that officials say moves thousands of kilograms of cocaine each month from South America through Mexico and into the United States.
According to the U.S. Treasury, the network operates under the cover of legitimate fishing businesses based near Manta, Ecuador. A fleet of commercial vessels secretly transfers multi-tonne shipments of cocaine to small, high-speed power boats known as “go-fast” vessels. These boats then race north through the Eastern Pacific Ocean, handing off the narcotics to Mexican foreign terrorist organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion for final ground distribution across the U.S. border.
Cartel Convergence and Enforcement Targets
The sanctioned individuals are closely tied to Los Choneros and Los Lobos, two of Ecuador’s most violent criminal organizations. U.S. officials state that these groups have deepened their operational convergence with Mexican cartels, generating billions of dollars annually through maritime trafficking corridors.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is relentlessly targeting the narcoterrorist networks that profit from poisoning Americans,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a public statement. “Working alongside our law enforcement partners, we will continue to disrupt the cartels’ drug trafficking operations and protect our borders.”
The Treasury action relies on a network-based approach designed to simultaneously dismantle leadership tiers, logistical nodes, and front operations, including complicit family members and corrupt officials. Since January 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control has taken nearly 30 enforcement actions targeting more than 300 individuals and entities involved in transnational drug smuggling.
Maritime Interdiction and Regional Operations
Coast Guard.
The sanctions complement broader regional interdiction efforts, including Operation Pacific Viper. Launched by the U.S. Coast Guard in August 2025 as an accelerated counter-drug campaign in the Eastern Pacific, the operation has surged cutters, aircraft, and tactical units into the primary transit corridor used by South American cartels. By June 2026, Operation Pacific Viper had successfully seized more than 225,000 pounds—approximately 112 tons—of cocaine at sea.
