WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday that it has designated the Ecuadorian gang known as the Chone Killers as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and has also listed the group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The move carries sanctions and was explained in a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio said that the Chone Killers "has committed numerous attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers, and government officials, including high-profile assassinations of public officials." The secretary of state framed the designations as a response to the group's violent acts against both civilians and representatives of government authority.
The announcement situates the designation within a broader U.S. policy approach toward criminal gangs. Under President Donald Trump's second term, the statement said, Washington has intensified efforts to crack down on gang activity, including naming multiple groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The administration has also pursued a campaign of lethal strikes against vessels suspected of involvement in drug trafficking off the Venezuelan coast and along the Pacific coast of Latin America.
In his statement, Rubio said the Trump Administration, "in partnership with Ecuador and President Daniel Noboa, will continue to protect our hemisphere by keeping illicit drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding violent narcoterrorists." The wording links the designation against the Chone Killers to an anti-drug and regional security strategy shared with Ecuador's leadership.
Context and implications
The designation imposes sanctions and identifies the gang as a transnational security threat based on the State Department's assessment of the group's attacks on civilians, security personnel, and public officials. The statement explicitly ties the action to broader efforts to curb narcotics trafficking and the financial flows that, according to the administration's statement, sustain violent groups.
Details on the specific sanctions applied or operational changes that will follow the listing were not provided in the statement. Nor did the announcement include additional factual context about the Chone Killers beyond the summary of their violent acts that prompted the designation.
Summary of official remarks
Secretary Rubio described the group's actions against civilians and officials and reiterated that the designation forms part of an administration strategy to disrupt the funding and movement of illicit drugs in cooperation with Ecuadorian authorities.