Noboa cuts short vacation as coastal crime surges; 10,000 additional troops deployed to three provinces

The Defense Ministry announced Thursday that an additional 10,000 military personnel are being sent to Guayas, Los Ríos and Manabí Provinces. The deployment will increase the number of troops in the three provinces to almost 30,000 assigned to support the National Police.

President Daniel Noboa meeting with his Security Council on Thursday.

President Daniel Noboa returned to Quito Wednesday, cutting short his Florida vacation, to participate in Security Council decisions to confront surging gang violence. “We are forced to adjust our security strategy to confront the changing tactics of the narco terrorists and other criminals,” he said in a social media statement.

The additional troop assignments follow a record-setting year for murders in 2025, most of them occurring in coastal provinces. They also follow a series of massacres in which five or more people have been killed in gang-related attacks in Guayas and Manabí Provinces.

“It is obvious we must make changes to address the new reality,” said Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo, conceding that the series of emergency declarations issued by Noboa over the past two years have not reduced crime levels. “We must employ a more forceful and direct tactics against the criminal structures in the three provinces,” he said. “We are sending a message to the criminal leaders, jail or hell, for putting at risk the safety of Ecuadorian families.”

He added: “This is a total offensive aimed at restoring peace and security in our communities.”

In addition to the troop deployment, Loffredo and Interior Minister John Reimberg said the meetings of the Security Council attended by Noboa developed a “full agenda” of new strategies to confront crime. “Information about these must remain confidential since their release to the public could jeopardize their effectiveness,” Reimberg said. “This is a war we are fighting with transnational criminals and we must treat it accordingly.”

Following the meetings with his Security Council, Noboa flew to Switzerland with five government ministers to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos.