Today, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing a reward offer under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, a/k/a "Churrón," a leader of Los Choneros in Ecuador.
Bermúdez Cagua, who is the first Los Choneros member to appear on the NRP target list, is involved in making drug and weapons trafficking decisions for Los Choneros. On June 27, 2025, Bermúdez Cagua, along with two other Los Choneros leaders, Darío Javier Peñafiel Nieto, a/k/a "Topo", and José Adolfo Macías Villamar, a/k/a "Fito", were charged in the Eastern District of New York with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Peñafiel Nieto and Macías Villamar are in custody, but Bermúdez Cagua remains a fugitive from justice.
Los Choneros, one of Ecuador's most violent criminal organizations, is linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and controls key cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador. On September 5, 2025, Secretary of State Rubio designated Los Choneros as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). In January 2024, the Government of Ecuador designated Los Choneros as a terrorist organization.
This reward offer complements the February 7, 2024, sanction of Los Choneros by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and is issued jointly with the government of Ecuador.
Today's reward offer is authorized by the Secretary under the NRP
