Ecuador President Noboa Outlines Crime and Economic Measures in Address

U.S. support. Noboa stated that authorities had extradited twelve crime bosses to the United States and seized nearly 300 tonnes of drugs. He said the government would continue to locate and extradite wanted individuals.

The Ministry of the Interior recorded approximately 50 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2025, the highest rate in decades. Noboa noted that the country lies between Colombia and Peru, the world’s leading cocaine producers, and that organized crime has been the primary public concern since homicide rates rose during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Noboa, reelected last year to a four-year term, has maintained a state of exception that permits military involvement in joint patrols and warrantless property searches. U.S. personnel that targeted an alleged Colombian trafficker training camp using drones, helicopters, and boats.

4 percent. Glaedys Gonzalez, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, stated on May 24 that progress on violence remained limited and that Ecuador’s security situation had reached unprecedented levels. Noboa was first elected in 2023 after former President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly and called a snap election.