The United States Southern Command announced in a March 3 post on X that U.S. military forces were engaging in "operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations in Ecuador" alongside Ecuadorian military forces. The scale of the United States' participation in the operations is unclear, but some reports indicate that SOUTHCOM is only providing intelligence and logistics support.

The two Ecuadorian gangs designated as terrorist groups by the United States are Los Choneros and Los Lobos, the country's two most powerful criminal groups. However, other designated groups, including Tren de Aragua, are also present in Ecuador and engaged in drug trafficking through the wider region. The United States has repeatedly conducted strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean over the last six months, killing over 150 people.