Ecuador destroys over 1,100 illegal mining camps
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Ecuadorian security forces destroyed 1,119 illegal mining camps between January and September 10, 2026, targeting criminal groups operating across the country.
The operations aimed to disrupt the financing of these organizations, which also engage in activities like drug trafficking, extortion, and kidnapping. Ecuador’s Ministry of Defense estimates these actions caused $4.659 billion in economic damage to the criminal organizations. Alongside the camps, authorities also disabled 1,748 mine shafts, 590 excavators, 537 classifiers, and 395 dredges used in illegal mineral extraction.
They seized 54,954 sacks of gold-bearing material, revealing the scale of infrastructure supporting illegal mining throughout Ecuador. The government of Daniel Noboa increased these operations after an attack in May 2025 in Alto Punino, a region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, where eleven soldiers were killed during a raid on illegal miners. Ecuadorian authorities blame the Comandos de la Frontera, a former FARC group, for the attack and say they work with Los Lobos to exploit illegal mining areas.
US Marine Corps aircraft, including MV-22B Osprey planes, are now assisting Ecuadorian forces in these operations as part of a broader cooperation to counter criminal groups.
