Los Choneros is an
organized crime syndicate and
drug cartel
A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the ...
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
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
groups, most notably Los Choneros.
History
The Choneros may have originated in
Chone or
Manta
Manta or mantas may refer to:
* Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta''
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications
* Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Bri ...
, 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
Barrios is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Agustín Barrios (1885–1944), Paraguayan guitarist and composer
*Ángel Barrios (1882–1964), Spanish guitarist and composer
*Arturo Barrios (born 1962), Mexican athlet ...
''.
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.
See also
*
Tren de Aragua
Tren de Aragua is the largest criminal organization in Venezuela, with over 2,700 members. In addition to its home-state of Aragua, the organization also has a presence in other states in Venezuela, such as: Carabobo, Sucre, Bolívar, Guárico, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choneros, Los
Organizations established in 2005
2005 establishments in Ecuador
Drug cartels in Ecuador
Crime in Ecuador