U.S. labels Ecuadorean gang Chone Killers terrorist organization
by Darryl Coote · UPIJuly 2 (UPI) -- The State Department designated the Ecuadorean gang Chone Killers a terrorist organization on Wednesday, the latest move in the Trump administration's campaign against Latin American and Caribbean criminal organizations over alleged narcoterrorism.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Chone Killers as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist, making it a federal crime to knowingly provide material support to the group and blocking its property and interests in property within U.S. jurisdiction.
In doing so, Rubio accused Chone Killers of helping Mexican cartels move and export drugs to fund terrorism and criminal activity, as well as attacking civilians, law enforcement officers and government officials.
"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 United States' top diplomat said in a statement.
The right-wing Ecuadorean government of Noboa, a President Donald Trump ally who has pursued a militarized crackdown on gangs, thanked the United States for what it called "firm support" for his "all-out fight against criminal organizations."
"This cooperation is fundamental to dismantling transnational mafias and guaranteeing the safety, stability and peace of all Ecuadorians," the South American country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility said in an online statement.
With the move, the Trump administration has designated 18 Latin American gangs and drug cartels since eight were labeled terrorist organizations in February as part of the president's aggressive anti-narcoterrorism campaign.
Trump argues that the United States is in "armed conflict" with these gangs, and his administration has cited that claim and the designations as part of its legal and policy rationale for using the military against alleged drug-trafficking vessels.
Since early September, U.S. Southern Command has been attacking suspected drug-trafficking boats in international waters, striking 66 vessels and killing at least 213 people, though the number is believed to be higher. The last strike on June 21 killed two people but left six survivors, whose status was unknown.
The White House alleges the boats are operated by one of these criminal organizations, though SOUTHCOM does not name the gang piloting the vessels it attacks, nor has it provided proof that drugs were onboard.
While the boat attacks have drawn domestic and international condemnation, including from the United Nations, the Trump administration's use of terrorist designations has also attracted concern from human rights groups and legal analysts, who warn against expanding the use of the military to conduct ostensibly law-enforcement actions.