The FBI established a first permanent office in Ecuador a few weeks ago, thereby strengthening cooperation with Ecuadorian law enforcement to combat transnational crime. The office, located at the United States Embassy in Quito, will provide support to joint investigations with a new unit of the National Police of Ecuador that focuses on narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering, and terrorism financing.
Currently, Ecuador is intensifying its efforts to combat organized crime, and the United States is expanding its cooperation with partners across the American continent to fight transnational criminal networks. Authorities say that Ecuador has become an important logistical hub for drug trafficking routes linking South America with markets in North America and Europe.
In a press conference held on March 11, officials stated that this measure reflects an expansion of the longstanding cooperation between the United States and Ecuadorian authorities.
“The establishment of a permanent FBI presence in Ecuador fits perfectly with the current U.S. policy in Latin America,” said Allen Pack, director of the FBI’s Office of the Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia. He added that “Ecuador was a key partner at the recent Shield of the Americas Summit, and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa is widely regarded as one of the United States’ closest allies in Latin America.”
OFFICE IN ECUADOR
The FBI’s police attachés—referred to as attachés—and their offices, such as the one in Quito, are located in key cities around the world and number about 250 special agents and administrative staff. The Quito office will have a permanently assigned agent to facilitate intelligence sharing and closer investigative coordination with its Ecuadorian counterparts.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Department of Homeland Security already have personnel assigned to Ecuador. Pack stated that the FBI presence will allow the country better access to the full range of support available from the U.S. agencies. For the FBI, access to trusted teams within the National Police of Ecuador (ENP) will facilitate the Bureau’s transnational investigations.
The selected teams are specialized units composed of top-tier government officials and foreign law enforcement personnel who have received special training and have been authorized as partners by the FBI.
“The Ecuadorian government is committed to working with the United States,” said Pack in an interview. Local authorities indicated that collaboration between the FBI and the National Police of Ecuador will begin immediately, based on prior joint operations aimed at organized crime networks.
The local authorities indicated that collaboration between the FBI and the National Police of Ecuador will begin immediately, based on prior joint operations aimed at organized crime networks.
“What has changed is that we now have FBI agents permanently in Ecuador working with a unit of the national police that has been created so they can cooperate,” said Ecuador’s Interior Minister, John Reimberg, on that same March 11.
U.S. officials stressed that the office represents an important step in strengthening operational ties between the two countries. Pack, whose office covers Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, said that a Deputy Legal Attaché (ALAT) from the Office’s Criminal Division will be assigned to Ecuador and will work with a team of experts to support investigations into foreign terrorist organizations such as “Los Lobos” and “Los Choneros,” which control maritime routes in the region.
Pack stated that around 70% of the world’s cocaine is shipped from Ecuadorian ports.
“The main threat in Ecuador is transnational organized crime, but there are also threats in all areas under the FBI’s purview,” said Pack, citing the Bureau’s counterterrorism, cybersecurity, counterintelligence, and counterespionage missions.
The acting chargé d’affaires of the U.S. embassy, Lawrence Petroni, described the opening as “a very important milestone.” Ecuador’s Vice President, María José Pinto, stated that the initiative is essential to “investigate and better understand criminal threats.”
By deploying FBI personnel in Ecuador, investigators from both countries can work more closely on complex international cases: sharing intelligence information, identifying criminal networks, and coordinating operations to dismantle transnational threats before they affect communities in the United States and abroad.
