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A new US military operation in Ecuador is underway, as American and Ecuadorian forces launch joint actions aimed at disrupting powerful drug trafficking networks that have tightened their grip on the region.

The announcement came Tuesday from United States Southern Command, which oversees military cooperation across 31 nations in South and Central America and the Caribbean. In a brief statement posted on X, the command described the effort as “decisive action” targeting illicit narcotics flows — but offered no operational specifics.

Ecuador’s defense ministry echoed the secrecy, saying details of the offensive remain classified.

A “New Phase” in the War on Drugs

The joint campaign follows Ecuador’s declaration a day earlier that Washington had entered a “new phase” of the country’s escalating war on drugs.

President Daniel Noboa, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, said the United States was among several “regional allies” now actively participating in operations against cartels that exploit Ecuador’s ports to funnel cocaine into global markets.

On Monday, Noboa met in Quito with Southern Command chief Francis Donovan and Mark Schafer, who leads U.S. special operations forces across Central and South America and the Caribbean.

According to a statement from Noboa’s office, the talks focused on enhancing intelligence sharing and tightening operational coordination at airports and seaports — key arteries in the cocaine supply chain.