FBI opens first Ecuador office in fight against drug trafficking

The United States has opened its ​first Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office ‌in Ecuador, the U.S. Embassy in Quito said on Wednesday.

The office will aim to ​work with Ecuadorean officials to fight the trafficking ​of drugs and weapons, along with ⁠money laundering and the financing of ​terrorism, the embassy said in a social ​media post.

Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimber told reporters that collaboration with the FBI office would ​start immediately, after prior joint efforts ​with the U.S.

“What has changed is that we have ‌FBI ⁠agents permanently in Ecuador working with a national police unit that has been set up so that they can ​work together,” ​he said.

Read more: Reuters