Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US will “blow up” foreign crime groups if needed, possibly in collaboration with other countries.”Now they’re gonna help us find these people and blow them up, if that’s what it takes,” Rubio said during a visit to Ecuador. He also announced the US will designate two of Ecuador’s largest criminal gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organisations. The comments come days after US forces carried out a strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The White House says it killed 11 drug-traffickers, though it did not release their identities.Asked whether smugglers coming from US allies, like Mexico and Ecuador, could face “unilateral execution” from US forces, Rubio said “co-operative governments” would help identify smugglers.”The president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no-one has responded.”But there’s no need to do that in many cases with the friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us.”The Ecuadorian and Mexican governments have not said they would assist with military strikes.In the wake of Tuesday’s strike on the vessel in the southern Caribbean, President Donald Trump said the military operation had targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as they transported illegal narcotics towards the US.Legal experts told BBC Verify the strike may have violated international human rights and maritime law.Late on Thursday, the defence department accused two Venezuelan military aircraft of flying near a US vessel in a “highly provocative move designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations”. Venezuela is yet to respond to the claim.Also on Thursday, the secretary of state announced Washington would issue $13.5m (£10m) in security aid and $6m in drone technology to help Ecuador crack down on drug trafficking.Violence in Ecuador has soared in recent years as criminal gangs battle for control over lucrative cocaine routesAccording to government data, about 70% of the world’s cocaine now passes through Ecuador in transit from neig …
