American Green Berets are conducting joint operations with Ecuadorian troops against drug cartels inside the South American country, according to Ecuadorian officials.
The disclosure comes as Washington moves additional ships, Marines, and other military capabilities into a region battered by narcotics trafficking and organized violence.
The operations are reportedly taking place in Ecuador’s Esmeraldas province, a strategically important area bordering Colombia. The province has suffered persistent bloodshed connected to trafficking organizations that exploit the border and Pacific smuggling routes.
Provincial governor Juan Jaramillo publicly confirmed the American military presence last week. “We are with the 7th (Special Forces) Group of the U.S. Army… we are working together in the fight against narcoterrorism,” Jaramillo told reporters, according to AFP.
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The 7th Special Forces Group is based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and maintains a primary regional focus on Latin America.
Jaramillo did not reveal how many Green Berets were deployed or identify the organizations being targeted by the combined force.
The reported involvement follows a five week Joint Combined Exchange Training event held in May between members of the 7th Special Forces Group and Ecuadorian troops.
What began publicly as training now appears to have developed into direct operational cooperation against heavily armed trafficking networks.
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The Green Beret activity also comes as American naval power moves closer to Ecuador. Ecuadorian military minister Gian Carlo Loffredo announced on August 20 that two United States warships equipped with interceptor boats would patrol from the port city of Manta.
The USS San Antonio recently crossed the Panama Canal and entered the eastern Pacific, according to Navy announcements and fleet tracking information. The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Gridley also moved into the Pacific this month under Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere.
Some Marines assigned to Littoral Combat Force 24 are aboard the USS San Antonio. More than 1,000 Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed to Puerto Rico this spring with a mission to disrupt “networks utilized by Designated Terrorist Organizations and narco-terrorists.”
On Sunday, American forces attacked a vessel in the eastern Pacific that officials alleged was transporting narcotics. United States Southern Command said two people were killed, making it the first reported strike against a suspected drug boat since June.
The attack was also the first confirmed vessel strike conducted under Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, which replaced Joint Task Force Southern Spear.
Ecuadorian officials, however, have been considerably more forthcoming about American activity than the United States military itself.
SOUTHCOM declined to discuss the Green Beret reports, citing operational security, while the Navy’s 4th Fleet also refused to comment. That silence leaves Ecuadorian officials providing most of the public details about an expanding American military role inside their country.
The Trump administration has labeled the traffickers “narco-terrorists” and used military strikes against small vessels allegedly transporting narcotics.
Even so, the United States has released almost no public evidence concerning the boats hit during a campaign that has reportedly killed more than 220 people since September 2025.
In March 2026, American forces conducted an airstrike against an alleged training camp in Ecuador near the Colombian border.
That operation was the first acknowledged direct United States strike inside Ecuador and came only days after SOUTHCOM announced joint operations with the country.
SOUTHCOM later carried out what it called a “lethal kinetic strike” inside Venezuela in June. The operation allegedly killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of the Tren de Aragua street gang, and was the first such action there since American troops captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in June that Washington was prepared to conduct additional strikes on land. This month, Hegseth said American personnel in the region are “focused on military capabilities against real threats who need to be deterred and defeated.”
Ecuador has become a central partner in President Donald Trump’s escalating campaign against Latin American trafficking organizations.
President Daniel Noboa, a close Trump ally, has authorized Department of War personnel to enter Ecuador without visas for as many as 180 days each year.
The latest disclosure signals that the campaign is no longer confined to training missions, maritime patrols, or distant surveillance.
Green Berets operating alongside Ecuadorian forces represent a deeper American commitment to hunting cartels where they operate, even as key questions about targets, troop numbers, and evidence remain unanswered.
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