WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday designated Ecuadorian gang the Chone Killers as a foreign terrorist organization, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

The gang "has committed numerous attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers, and government officials, including high-profile assassinations of public officials," Rubio said in a statement, adding that the group was also branded "specially designated global terrorists."

As a result, the Chone Killers' leaders and anyone associated with them can be subject to US sanctions and criminal prosecution.

"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," he added.

Ecuador has gone from one of South America's safest countries to a major cocaine trafficking hub, plagued by gangs with ties to Mexican and Colombian cartels.

Noboa, a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump, has imposed curfews and deployed the military to several provinces in a US-backed crackdown aimed at stamping out gang activity.

The Trump administration has designated a number of other Latin American gangs and drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.

foreign terrorist organization

US designates Ecuador gang a terrorist organization