Two suspected members of the Los Choneros criminal organisation have been detained in northern Quito after security forces raided an alleged gang hideout in Carapungo.
The Ministry of Defense said the residential property was being used as an active hideout by members of the criminal group.
Authorities identified the two individuals captured inside the home as alias Hueso and Jonathan G. Official records identify Jonathan G. as an individual of relevant criminal interest, noting that he holds a prior criminal record for the carrying and possession of weapons in 2025.
The intervention was carried out by the Armed Forces as part of the unified Security Block, working in close coordination with the National Intelligence Center. The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the raid forms part of ongoing government operations directed against organized crime structures.
The targeted property had already been the subject of an official security operation four months earlier. During that previous intervention at the residence, authorities seized 44 kilograms of cocaine and apprehended a Colombian citizen known as alias Cali.
History of Los Choneros network
Los Choneros is one of Ecuador's most powerful and longstanding criminal organisations. Originating in the late 1990s in the coastal city of Chone, in Manabi province, the syndicate grew from a local gang into an extensive illicit network involved in international cocaine trafficking, extortion, and contract killings.
The group has historically controlled key domestic transit corridors to move narcotics toward Pacific ports for export. In recent years, violent rivalries between Los Choneros and competing criminal factions have fueled severe unrest and security crises across the country.
In response, the Ecuadorian state established the Security Block as an interagency command uniting the military, national police, and intelligence services to coordinate targeted offensives against organized crime rings.
Under this security framework, authorities classify suspects as individuals of relevant criminal interest to prioritize targets with significant criminal backgrounds. The operation took place in Carapungo, an expansive residential sector situated in northern Quito, Ecuador's Andean capital.
