Mexico’s two biggest drug cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG, have expanded into various countries. On example of a country they’ve really wrecked is Ecuador, on the Pacific coast of South America.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal: “Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels have spread to more than 40 countries as they work to meet surging demand for cocaine in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Their turf war expanded into Ecuador, which became a top prize due to its strategic location nestled between the two biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru.“
Of course the cartels have local allies.
“The cartels work through local gangs that have grown stronger and more dangerous as they adopt the gruesome tactics of Mexico’s drug wars.”
The security situation in Ecuador has gone downhill.
“Ecuador has devolved in a few years from one of the region’s safest nations to among the world’s most deadly. Five of the world’s 12 most murderous cities are in Ecuador, with the city of Durán ranked No. 1, according to the Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think tank that focuses on violence.”
“ ‘These two cartels are spreading like cancer around the world,’ said Mike Vigil, a former Drug Enforcement Administration director of international operations. ‘The ultimate goal is for one cartel or the other to take dominance over Ecuador.’ ”
“The influence of powerful Mexican cartels and other international crime syndicates makes stanching the carnage much more difficult for President Daniel Noboa, an ally of the Trump administration who was re-elected in April on pledges to curb violence.”
“Killings are up by half in the first six months of this year, government figures show, and May was the bloodiest month on record. Ecuador’s homicide rate is approaching a high of about 50 per 100,000 people in 2025, roughly twice Mexico’s. In 2018, Ecuador’s murder rate was below six per 100,000, similar to the U.S.’s.”
“To reduce violence, Noboa’s looking for support from the U.S., where President Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare options to use military force against Mexican cartels he’s designated as terrorist groups.”
“Noboa wants to reopen a U.S. military base in Ecuador. His government is also partnering with Erik Prince, the American mercenary who founded Blackwater, to train Ecuadorean police and soldiers.“
The WSJ article has a history of the Mexican cartels in Ecuador, you can check that out here.