Ecuador and U.S. Forces Destroy FARC Dissident Training Camp in Amazon Region
The strike, carried out in the municipality of Cacales, marks the first officially announced joint military operation between the two countries on Ecuadorian soil
Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces bombed and destroyed a training camp belonging to the Comandos de la Frontera, a dissident faction of Colombia’s former FARC guerrilla organization, in the Amazon border province of Sucumbíos on Tuesday, both governments confirmed Friday.
The strike, carried out in the municipality of Cacales, marks the first officially announced joint military operation between the two countries on Ecuadorian soil. According to Ecuador’s Defense Ministry, the camp was linked to a commander known by the alias ‘Mono Tole’ and had the capacity to train up to fifty drug traffickers.
Fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, river vessels and drones were deployed to precisely locate the criminal infrastructure before its destruction. Ecuadorian authorities did not disclose whether any arrests were made or detail the specific nature of U.S. operational support.
#MUNDO| Las Fuerzas Armadas de Ecuador, en colaboración con Estados Unidos, confirmaron haber destruido un campamento de grupos disidentes de las Farc.
La operación, desarrollada el martes en la provincia de Sucumbíos (fronteriza con Colombia), también resultó en el arresto de… pic.twitter.com/GYjXRiXrjU
— ÚltimaHoraCaracol (@UltimaHoraCR) March 6, 2026
And this is just the beginning. We will find them… even from under the rocks, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said of the operation.
U.S. Armed Forces spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed Washington’s involvement on social media. At Ecuador’s request, the U.S. Department of War executed a directed action to advance the shared objective of dismantling narco-terrorist networks, Parnell wrote, adding that the operation sends a clear message: narco-terrorist networks will find no refuge in our hemisphere.
U.S. Southern Command described the operations, launched on March 3, as a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.
Ecuador’s Defense Ministry stated that the collaboration falls within bilateral security cooperation frameworks that allow for strategic intelligence-sharing and capacity-building to confront drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.
The Comandos de la Frontera is one of three FARC dissident groups designated as terrorist organizations by President Daniel Noboa since January 2024, when he declared a state of internal armed conflict in response to the worst security crisis in the country’s history. The group was held responsible for killing eleven Ecuadorian soldiers in an ambush during an anti-illegal-mining operation in May 2025, in the Alto Punino area between the Amazonian provinces of Orellana and Napo.
Authorities also allege the group has forged ties with Los Lobos, currently Ecuador’s most powerful criminal organization, to jointly exploit illegal mining operations in areas such as Alto Punino.
The United States has become Ecuador’s primary strategic partner in a security campaign that has pushed the country to the top of Latin America’s homicide rankings.
