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President Donald Trump on Saturday said major US trading partners Mexico and the European Union would face a 30 percent tariff starting next month, ramping up pressure for deals in his trade wars.Both sets of duties would take effect August 1, Trump said in separate letters posted to his Truth Social platform, citing Mexico’s role in illicit drugs flowing into the United States and a trade imbalance with the EU respectively.Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has unleashed sweeping tariffs on allies and competitors alike, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global economic downturn. But his administration is coming under pressure to secure deals with trading partners after promising a flurry of agreements. So far, US officials have only unveiled two pacts, with Britain and Vietnam, alongside temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties with China.The fresh duties for Mexico announced by Trump would be higher than the 25 percent levy he imposed Mexican goods earlier this year, although products entering the United States under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) are exempted.”Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” Trump said in his letter. “Starting August 1, 2025, we will charge Mexico a Tariff of 30% on Mexican products sent into the United States.”Canada earlier received a similar letter setting out 35 percent tariffs on its goods. A US official earlier told AFP that the USMCA exemption was similarly expected to remain for Canada.The EU tariff is also markedly steeper than the 20 percent levy Trump unveiled in April, as negotiations with the bloc continue.The EU, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 percent on Wednesday, but Trump pushed back the deadline to August 1 just days before the elevated rates were due to take effect.Since the start of the week, Trump has sent out letters to more than 20 countries with updated tariffs for each.Brussels said Friday that it was ready to strike a deal with Washington to prevent the return of 20 percent levies, and the latest letter suggests talks will carry on.The EU has prepared retaliatory duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros after Trump also slapped separate tariffs on steel and aluminum imports earlier this year, and they are suspended until July 14.European officials have not made any move to extend the suspension but could do it quickly if needed.

Russia fired more than 620 drones and long-range missiles overnight killing four people, Ukraine said Saturday, calling for fresh sanctions on Moscow to halt its record barrages.Kyiv and Moscow have stepped up aerial strikes over recent months and US-led ceasefire talks aimed at pausing the over three-year war have stalled.”Twenty-six cruise missiles and 597 attack drones were launched, of which more than half were ‘Shaheds’,” , Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, referring to Iranian-made drones. The Ukrainian air force said it had downed 319 Shahed drones and 25 missiles, adding that one missile and about 20 drones hit “five locations”. It did not elaborate.Zelensky said the strikes had killed at least two people and wounded 20 in Chernvsty in the west, far from the front lines of the east and south.Six people were wounded in Lviv, also in the west, while in the east, two people died in Dnipropetrovsk and three were wounded in Kharkiv, local authorities said.The Russian defence ministry said it had targeted companies in Ukraine’s military-industrial ccomplex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk and a military aerodrome.On Friday, Ukrainian drone and shelling attacks killed three people in Russia.US special envoy Keith Kellogg is due on Monday to begin his latest visit to Ukraine as a Washington-led peace effort flounders.On Friday, the Kremlin restated its opposition to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv’s allies had a plan “ready to go… in the hours after a ceasefire”.US President Donald Trump called Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday but said afterwards there had been no progress towards ending the war.The Kremlin said Putin would not give up on Russia’s war goals but would nonetheless continue to take part in negotiations.Moscow says its aim in Ukraine is to get rid of the “root causes” of the conflict and has demanded that Kyiv give up its NATO ambitions.- Weapons, sanctions -Zelensky said on Thursday Trump had given him firm dates for the resumption of US weapons shipments and planned to make a statement on Russia on Monday.Washington’s announcement earlier this month that it would pause some armament deliveries to Ukraine was a blow to Kyiv, which is reliant on Western military support.On Saturday, Zelensky urged his Western allies to send “more than just signals” to stop the war launched by Russia in February 2022. “The pace of Russian air strikes requires swift decisions and it can be curbed right now through sanctions,” he said.Zelensky specifically demanded penalties for those who “help Russia produce drones and profit from oil”.Oil exports are important for the Russian economy especially in the face of existing Western sanctions.Sanctions imposed on Russia — the world’s largest fertiliser producer — after the invasion spared its grain and fertiliser exports. But prices skyrocketed, fuelling fears of food insecurity.The United Nations signed a deal with Russia in July 2022 to facilitate exports of food and fertiliser to limit global price increases.But on Friday, it said the accord would not be renewed when it expires on July 22.Russia has repeatedly complained the agreement does little to protect it from secondary sanction effects.

A farm worker was in critical condition on Friday, his family said, after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California that resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants and clashes with protesters.President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “slimeballs” and said they should be arrested.In another development, a district judge ordered a halt to “roving patrols” in Los Angeles by federal agents who were detaining suspected undocumented migrants without probable cause and denying them due process.District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ordered an end to the arrests, which she said were being made “based upon race alone,” on whether a person was speaking Spanish or English with an accent or because of their place of work.Trump’s remarks and the court order come a day after a chaotic raid on a cannabis plantation in Ventura County some 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles left one farm worker critically injured.The United Farm Workers labor union had said in an X post on Friday that the worker had “died of injuries they sustained as a result of yesterday’s immigration enforcement action.” But the family on a GoFundMe page said he was in critical condition and unlikely to survive.”He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 30ft (9 meters). My uncle’s life is in critical condition; doctors have told us he won’t make it. His injuries are catastrophic. His heart is still beating.”The Ventura County Medical Center, which told ABC News that he was in critical condition, did not respond to AFP calls for more details.Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said he was never in custody.”Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,” McLaughlin said. “(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”The DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued “from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”DHS said more than 500 “rioters” had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.Tear gas was used against the protesters, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles. The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.- Showdown -In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had watched footage of “thugs” throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing “tremendous damage.”Trump said he was authorizing law enforcement officers who are “on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so.””I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” he said.Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of migrants, has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against roundups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks.”We’ve been here since six this morning asking questions but they’re not giving us any information,” said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday.”I just want to know how he’s doing,” Munoz said. “Bring him back to me and if it’s time for us to leave, we’ll leave.”The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.”

Bad Bunny launched his historic residency Friday with an explosive performance that fused folkloric drumming and dance with the reggaeton beats that have made him a global star, as thousands of Puerto Ricans screamed along to every word during the show limited to locals. The concert series in San Juan is Bad Bunny’s showcase of Puerto Rican pride and resilience, a slate of weekly performances rooted in home and history. The elated audience went wild as the megastar first appeared on the lush, verdant rainforest set, where he joined a troupe of drummers and dancers in a powerful love letter to the island’s history of resistance. The residency entitled “No Me Quiero Ir De Aqui” — “I don’t want to leave here” — is a history lesson in Puerto Rican music and rhythms as well as a rallying cry that lays bare the island’s colonial past and present.Bad Bunny, 31, has long used his platform as a means to give voice to his fellow Puerto Ricans, while also managing to rule the charts with his reggaeton-forward blend of eminently danceable pop that has found massive global success.And now the artist born Benito Martinez Ocasio is bringing that success back home to El Choli, as the arena with a capacity of more than 18,000 is colloquially known in the Puerto Rican capital.”It’s super emotional,” Amanda Sanchez, 30, told AFP.  – Locals first -“I think Benito did something really transcendental, for what the culture is, here in Puerto Rico,” said the content creator dressed in a red scarf and a Puerto Rican-flag colored bikini top.From moving, acoustic renditions delivered from beneath a tree to a house structure on the other side of the arena where Bad Bunny partied with the likes of LeBron James, the energy was relentlessly high.During a seamless transition from one super smash — “Nuevayol” — to another — “Titi me pregunto,” the stadium almost seemed to shake. “I don’t hear you!” the artist shouted to roars from his fans. That the first nine shows are limited to Puerto Rican residents — a poignant remark on Bad Bunny’s commitment to making music first and foremost for the people of his homeland — is something “really special for us,” said Sanchez.Puerto Rico is a US territory but not a state. Even though its residents are American citizens, their rights are limited.They cannot vote in the US presidential election, for example, and have only a non-voting delegate in Congress.Sanchez said it was heartwarming “to be able to feel like an artist of Bad Bunny’s magnitude can give us, the people of the island” first pick of shows.”And we are here to enjoy it, to dance and to have a great time!”As fans, many wearing the iconic Puerto Rican “pava” straw hats, filed en masse into El Choli, vendors slung pina coladas, the beloved frozen drink born on the island. – Speak the ‘truth’ -Prior to the show a screen overlooking the tropical set — on which live chickens wandered freely — displayed facts about Puerto Rican history and unabashed political statements.  The crowd burst into applause when the screen flash with the message: “PR is an unincorporated territory of the United States, but has its own flag, culture and identity.”The highly anticipated residency announced in January began on July 11, and will continue into September over subsequent Friday to Sunday three-day weekends.   Michelle Munoz, 55, a Brooklynite of Puerto Rican origin, did not have tickets for the buzzy opening night but showed up anyway to soak in the vibes.Munoz said she began coming back to her parents’ homeland in 2023, after having stayed in the United States for decades.Now, she feels “like this is where I want to spend the rest of my life.”For Munoz, Bad Bunny’s popularity stems from his willingness to speak the “truth” while “showing and honoring the history of music — the music that came before him, that he grew up on, and that made him.””He’s not a crossover. He is a Spanish-singing global artist,” she added. “Not everybody can do that.”   

A farm worker died on Friday after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California that resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants and clashes with protestors.President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “slimeballs” and said they should be arrested.In another development, a district judge ordered a halt to “roving patrols” in Los Angeles by federal agents who were detaining suspected undocumented migrants without probable cause and denying them due process.District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ordered an end to the arrests, which she said were being made “based upon race alone,” on whether a person was speaking Spanish or English with an accent or because of their place of work and ordered them stopped.Trump’s remarks and the court order come a day after a chaotic raid on a cannabis plantation in Ventura County some 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles left one farm worker critically injured.The United Farm Workers labor union said in a post on X on Friday that the worker had “died of injuries they sustained as a result of yesterday’s immigration enforcement action.”Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said the man who died was never in custody.”Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet (10 meters),” McLaughlin said. “(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”The DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued “from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”DHS said more than 500 “rioters” had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.Tear gas was used against the protestors, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles. The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.- Showdown -In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had watched footage of “thugs” throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing “tremendous damage.”Trump said he was authorizing law enforcement officers who are “on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so.””I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” he said.Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of migrants, has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against roundups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks.”We’ve been here since six this morning asking questions but they’re not giving us any information,” said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday.”I just want to know how he’s doing,” Munoz said. “Bring him back to me and if it’s time for us to leave, we’ll leave.”The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.”

Fast-spreading wildfires have forced the evacuation of part of the Grand Canyon, with the US National Park Service ordering visitors and residents away from its northern rim. “Due to the advancing Dragon Bravo Fire within Grand Canyon National Park, all North Rim residents are now in ‘GO’ status and should evacuate the North Rim immediately,” the National Park Service said in an X post on Friday afternoon. The Dragon Bravo Fire, which was sparked by lightning and has been burning since July 4, was 150 acres (61 hectares) in size Friday evening and zero percent contained, a US government incident report said.Park Service staff had already cleared the North Rim, which is less popular with tourists than the South Rim, of some 500 visitors late Thursday.Day-use access to the area was also closed due to a larger blaze called the White Sage Fire, which was burning outside the Grand Canyon National Park.However, it was approaching Jacob Lake, Arizona, a small settlement known as the gateway to the North Rim.About 10,973 acres (4,441 hectares) have been scorched by the White Sage Fire which is zero-percent contained, according to authorities, who released images of large columns of smoke rising above the scrubby desert.Jon Paxton, press officer for the Coconino County sheriff’s office, told AFP that a hotel and some businesses had been emptied.”Most of the folks we evacuated were campers,” he said. “This area is high desert and mostly open forest for camping.”- Started by lightning -The White Sage Fire was also started by lightning, during a thunderstorm on July 9.”Crews encountered very extreme fire behavior due to the dry conditions (and) gusty and erratic winds inhibiting the ability for fire fighters to safely engage the fire,” the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said.One of the greatest wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon is the result of the Colorado River eating away at layers of red sandstone and other rock for millions of years, leaving a gash up to 18 miles (30 km) wide and more than a mile (1.6 km) deep.Park Service advised against any hiking into the canyon, due to extreme heat and wildfire smoke. A 67-year-old man died on Tuesday while attempting to reach the river in hot conditions.Last year almost five million people visited the world-famous site.Another popular site, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, was also closed Friday because of a wildfire.

The United States announced its first sanctions on Friday against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel for his role “in the Cuban regime’s brutality toward the Cuban people.”It is the latest in a series of measures by US President Donald Trump’s administration to increase pressure on the Cuban government.The United States was restricting visas for the Cuban president and other high-ranking government officials, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an X post on the fourth anniversary of historic anti-government protests in Cuba.Demonstrations rocked the island in July 2021 as thousands took to the streets to protest shortages of basic goods and worsening economic conditions.Hundreds were arrested, one person died and dozens were injured in the lagest protests since Fidel Castro’s 1959 communist revolution.The State Department said it was sanctioning “key regime leaders… for their involvement in gross violations of human rights.”Officials sanctioned included Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas.The United States was also taking steps to sanction Cuban judicial and prison officials linked to the “unjust detention and torture of July 2021 protestors.” “While the Cuban people suffer shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity, the regime lavishes money on its insiders,” Rubio said.Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez slammed the measures on X, saying the United States cannot “bend the will of its people or its leaders.”In May, the Cuban foreign ministry summoned the US envoy to Havana to protest his “interference” in the country’s internal affairs.The United States has a six-decade-old trade blockade in place against Cuba.- Political prisoners -Rubio took to X to accuse Cuba of torturing dissident leader Jose Daniel Ferrer and demand “proof of life.””The United States demands immediate proof of life and the release of all political prisoners,” Rubio said.According to the United States, 700 people are still imprisoned for taking part in the July 2021 protests. Human rights organizations put the number at between 360 and 420. Some of the convicted protesters have been released in recent months after serving their sentences.Others, including Ferrer — leader of the dissident group Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) — were released as part of a Vatican-mediated agreement in January after former US president Joe Biden removed the island from the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism.But at the end of April, Ferrer’s parole was revoked, prompting criticism from Washington, which has put Cuba back on the blacklist after Trump returned to power.The State Department also added the “Torre K,” a 42-story hotel in Havana, to its restricted list of entities off-limits to Americans, “to prevent US dollars from funding the Cuban regime’s repression.”The establishment, recently inaugurated in a central area of the Cuban capital, sparked criticism of the government’s huge investment in new hotels at a time when tourism is declining.

Boeing has reached a settlement with a man whose family died in a 737 MAX crash in 2019, a law firm told AFP on Friday, meaning the US aviation giant will avoid a federal trial slated for Monday. Paul Njoroge, who lost his wife and three children in the Ethiopian Airlines disaster in which 157 people died, was to seek damages from Boeing in a case in Chicago.”The case has settled for a confidential amount,” said a spokesperson for Clifford Law, the firm representing Njoroge, whose mother-in-law also died in the crash. “The aviation team at Clifford Law Offices has been working round-the-clock in preparation for trial, but the mediator was able to help the parties come to an agreement on behalf of Paul Njoroge,” added Robert Clifford, a senior partner at Clifford, in a statement.Until now, Boeing has succeeded in avoiding civil trials connected to the 737 MAX crashes of 2018 and 2019, reaching a series of settlements, sometimes only hours before trials were set to begin.The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 on March 10, 2019 took place six minutes after departing Addis Ababa for Nairobi.Njoroge lost his wife Carolyne, who was 33, his mother-in-law Ann Karanja, and the couple’s three children: six-year-old Ryan; Kelli, who was four; and nine-month-old Rubi.Njoroge told a congressional panel in July 2019 he was haunted by ideas of the final moments of the flight, how his children “must have clung to their mother, crying, seeing the fright in her eyes.””It is difficult for me to think of anything else but the horror they must have felt,” he said. “I cannot get it out of my mind.”The trial set for Monday was expected to last five to seven days.Between April 2019 and March 2021, family members of 155 Boeing victims joined litigation charging the aviation giant with wrongful death and negligence.Boeing has accepted responsibility for the Ethiopian Airlines crash, blaming the design of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a flight handling system that malfunctioned.That system was also implicated in the Lion Air crash in 2018, when the 737 MAX 8 fell into the sea after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board. The Lion Air crash also spawned dozens of lawsuits in the United States. But as of July 2025, only one case remained open.Boeing has said it has reached out-of-court agreements with more than 90 percent of civil complainants in the MAX cases.The company also has a settlement pending that would resolve a long-running Department of Justice criminal probe connected to the MAX crashes.Some MAX families are contesting the Department of Justice’s accord with Boeing, arguing that the company should face federal prosecution. US District Judge Reed O’Connor, in Texas, has yet to make a final decision on the proposed accord.

Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home has been sold to the village where he grew up, which intends to make it a historical site, local media reported Friday.The modest brick home in the Chicago suburb of Dolton, population 21,000, was sold by its current owner for $375,000, WGN television said.It said the owner had bought the house for $66,000 last year — prior to Pope Leo’s election as the first American pontiff — and done extensive renovations.The Dolton village board of trustees voted earlier this month to purchase the three-bedroom house and turn it into an attraction open to the public.According to WBEZ Chicago radio, the parents of Pope Leo — born Robert Prevost — bought the house in 1949 and sold it in 1996.

Ecuador’s most notorious drug lord has agreed to be extradited to the United States to face cocaine and weapons smuggling charges, a court in Quito said Friday.Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito,” was captured in June after escaping from a maximum security prison last year in a jailbreak that sparked a severe wave of gang violence.Macias, head of the “Los Choneros” gang, is wanted in the United States on charges of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms-related crimes, including weapons smuggling.The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of Ecuadoran law enforcement early last year after escaping from prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. He had been serving a 34-year sentence since 2011 for involvement in organized crime, drug trafficking and murder. President Daniel Noboa’s government at the time released “wanted” posters and offered $1 million for information leading to Macias’s recapture. In a country plagued by drug-related crime, Los Choneros members responded with violence — using car bombs, holding prison guards hostage and storming a television station during a live broadcast.After months of pursuit, Macias was recaptured last month in a massive military and police operation in which no shots were fired. He was found hiding in a bunker concealed under floor tiles in a luxury home in the fishing port of Manta, and Noboa declared he would be extradited “the sooner the better.””We will gladly send him and let him answer to the North American law,” Noboa told CNN at the time.- Fighting cocks and mariachi bands -Macias, dressed in an orange prison uniform, took part in a court hearing Friday by video link from a high-security prison in Guayaquil.In response to a judge’s question, he replied, “Yes, I accept (extradition).”Given his consent, the court said in a statement “the pertinent procedure for the transfer process” will now follow, with Noboa having to sign the official handover papers.This would make Macias the first Ecuadoran extradited by his country since the measure was written into law last year after a referendum in which Noboa sought the approval of measures to boost his war on criminal gangs.Ecuador, once a peaceful haven between the world’s two top cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, has seen violence erupt in recent years as enemy gangs with ties to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control.Gang wars have largely played out inside the country’s prisons, where Macias wielded immense control. He was the unofficial boss of his Guayaquil prison, where authorities found images glorifying the gangster, weapons and US dollars.Videos of parties he held in the prison showed the use of fireworks and a mariachi band. In one clip, he appeared waving, laughing and petting a fighting rooster. Macias earned his law degree behind bars.By the time he escaped, he was considered a suspect in the assassination of presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.Soon after Macias’s prison break, Noboa declared Ecuador to be in a state of “internal armed conflict” and ordered the military and tanks into the streets to “neutralize” the gangs.Los Choneros has ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, Colombia’s Gulf Clan — the world’s largest cocaine exporter — and Balkan mafias, according to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory. More than 70 percent of all cocaine produced in the world now passes through Ecuador’s ports, according to government data.In 2024, the country seized a record 294 tons of drugs, mainly cocaine.