Transnational Drug Trafficking

The State Department announced Thursday a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, 29, aka “Churron,” a top lieutenant of Ecuador’s Los Choneros, which the U.S. designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in September 2025. Bermúdez Cagua is charged in a superseding indictment unsealed in June in the Eastern District of New York with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, distribution, and using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking; co‑conspirator José “Fito” Macías was extradited to New York in July, and Darío “Topo” Peñafiel remains in custody in Ecuador.