US, Ecuador Sign Police Exchange Agreement to Combat Organized Crime

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met on July 31 with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and members of his administration to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) establishing a law enforcement exchange program between the United States and Ecuador.

“In the war against drugs and crime, information is our strongest weapon,” Noem said in a statement released the same day.

The meeting took place at Carondelet Palace in Quito and was attended by Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld and Interior Minister John Reimberg, among other officials.

Noem and Reimberg signed the MoU in connection with an exchange program that will integrate an Ecuadorian security liaison into Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, with the mission of intercepting dangerous travelers, including terrorists, and illicit cargo, according to DHS.

“The National Targeting Center works nonstop to catch dangerous individuals, terrorists, and gang members attempting to travel to the United States,” Noem said.

“By implementing this liaison program, we deepen information sharing between our governments, making it easier to identify, track down, and interdict threats to both of our countries.”

At the meeting, officials from both nations discussed joint efforts to strengthen regional security, enhance cooperation in international law enforcement, restrict illegal migration, and combat transnational organized crime.

Noem also spent time with Ecuadorian law enforcement officers and police investigators to discuss actions both countries can take to combat drug cartels, and terrorist and criminal organizations seeking to harm citizens.

Noem said that the Ecuadorian government had extradited José Adolfo Macías Villamar, also known as Fito, to the United States in July, and that “he will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

According to the Justice Department, Macías Villamar will be arraigned on a seven-count indictment charging him with international cocaine distribution conspiracy; international cocaine distribution; using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking; smuggling firearms from the United States; and straw purchasing of firearms conspiracy.

After the meeting, Noem highlighted in a July 31 post on X the “hard work to crack down on criminal gangs and terrorist organizations” being done by Noboa and his administration. She also said that Ecuador has become “one of America’s most valuable security partners.”

“Two nations working together to secure our borders and uphold the rule of law,” Noem wrote in another post.