Los Choneros

Los Choneros is an organized crime syndicate and drug cartel based in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, with a notable presence along much of the country's coastline. The gang is known for its involvement in organized crime, including drug trafficking, extortion, and robbery. Many of its members have been on the Ecuadorian most wanted list and its original leaders have been imprisoned or killed. Their main business is moving cocaine to the United States.

On 9 January 2024, an armed conflict in Ecuador broke out after gangleader José Villamar escaped from prison and around 30 top officials were arrested by an anti-corruption and drug trafficking operation. The country's government declared a situation of inner war against several organized crime groups, most notably Los Choneros.

History
The Choneros may have originated in Chone or Manta, sometime in the 1990s. Initially it was a gang of young adults with eight members, aged between 18 and 30 years. Its founder and first leader was Jorge Bismark Véliz España, known as Chonero or Teniente España, said to have started out as a drug dealer in the city's barrios.

Carlos Jesús Cedeño Vera, known alternatively as El Rojo or El Quesero, the head of the Los Queseros gang, fell out with Bismark, one of its members, at a party and ordered his murder, which was attempted that night. Bismark and his daughter were wounded and his wife was killed. Bismark, along with family members, friends, and criminal associates, collectively Los Choneros, including the gang's future leader, Jorge Luis Zambrano, then a Los Choneros hitman, murdered Vera’s brother and son, Jhonny Verdy Cedeño Vera and Cristhian Jonathan Cedeño Briones. In the ensuing war, Los Queseros were exterminated. Several from Los Choneros survived, allowing them to continue with organized crime.

Los Choneros is believed to work as the armed wing of Sinaloa Cartel within Ecuador. Their main business is drug trafficking, especially of cocaine. Since 2011, the Choneros have also been present in prisons around the country. The organization is well organized nationwide and includes Ecuadorian security officials and politicians.