Ecuador Arrests Nine Suspected Members of Comandos de la Frontera in Alto Punino

Ecuadorian security forces arrested nine people suspected of belonging to Comandos de la Frontera during an operation in Alto Punino, in the Amazon region. The operation involved the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police and the Armed Forces.

Authorities reported finding and dismantling three camps in the sector, although the Attorney General’s Office separately described the discovery of one camp. The military said the sites in Francisco de Orellana province could accommodate more than 60 people and may have served as support and rest bases for organized armed structures.

The seized material included rifles, nine-millimeter weapons, military-style clothing and more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition of different calibers. Authorities also reported finding 90 detonator capsules, three Starlink antennas, 13 communication radios, a drone and tactical vests.

The camps also contained extensive logistical equipment: 13 gas cylinders, three electric generators, three industrial kitchens, three refrigerators stocked with food and three washing machines. The Attorney General’s Office said the legal situation of the nine detainees would be determined in the following hours.

Comandos de la Frontera is a dissident group from Colombia’s disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. President Daniel Noboa has classified the group as terrorist. Ecuadorian authorities blame it for the deaths of 11 Ecuadorian soldiers in an ambush during an operation against illegal mining in Alto Punino in May 2025. The area lies between the Amazonian provinces of Orellana and Napo.