FBI opens first Ecuador office in fight against drug trafficking

QUITO, March 11 (Reuters) – The United States has opened its first Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in Ecuador, the U.S. Embassy in Quito said on Wednesday. 

The office will aim to work with Ecuadorean officials to fight the trafficking of drugs and weapons, along with money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the embassy said in a social media post. 

Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimber told reporters that collaboration with the FBI office would start immediately, after prior joint efforts with the U.S.

“What has changed is that we have FBI agents permanently in Ecuador working with a national police unit that has been set up so that they can work together,” he said.

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa has made a military crackdown on organized crime a cornerstone of his administration. Last week his government staged a joint operation with U.S. officials to target drug trafficking operations in the South American country.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)