The Trump administration designated an Ecuadorian gang as a “foreign terrorist organization” on Wednesday, extending its list of designated foreign terrorist groups in Latin America and the Caribbean to 21.
The State Department designated Los Tiguerones as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
According to the department, Los Tiguerones is an Ecuador-based gang linked to narcotrafficking and other illicit activity, along with several attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers and journalists, including the live takeover of an Ecuadorian TV station in 2024.
“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 narcoterrorists,” Secretary of State said in a statement.
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“Todays 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 narcoterrorist networks in our region, ensuring the safety of the American people,” he added.
The announcement came during Rubio’s diplomatic tour to South America, where he made stops in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to address U.S. efforts to combat drug trafficking in Latin America.
The label was previously reserved for terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaida that use violence for political ambitions and not for financially motivated crime organizations like the ones in Latin America and the Caribbean that have recently been added to the list.
But the administration wants to increase pressure on the crime rings and anyone believed to be assisting them.
The government began using the strategy in February 2025, and it served as a pretext for the U.S. capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, as well as dozens of deadly attacks on boats allegedly involved in narcotics trafficking.
The strategy also prompted Latin American countries, including Guatemala and Argentina, to take similar action against certain groups and led Ecuador to launch joint operations on its own soil.
Rubio said terrorist designations “expose and isolate entities and individuals, denying them access to the U.S. financial system and the resources they need to carry out attacks.” He also said designations can assist law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and governments.
Mexico has the most groups of any country on the U.S. list for designated foreign terrorist organizations with eight. The Mexican government is under intense pressure from the U.S. to prevent President from taking unilateral action against cartels in Mexico.
Trumps approach has also featured contradictions, as he pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking and accused during his trial of protecting the Sinaloa Cartel. Hernández has since returned to his country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
