Reward Offer of Up to $5 Million for Information Leading to Arrest and/or Conviction of Leader of FTO ‘Los Choneros’
DEA Headquarters
Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration, together with the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of State, announced a $5 million reward offer for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua, also known as “Churrón,” a leader of Los Choneros, a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) based in Ecuador.
The reward offer and a newly established tipline, ecuadortips@dea.gov, are intended to help end the pursuit of the alleged drug trafficker, Bermúdez Cagua, who is charged in a superseding indictment in the Eastern District of New York with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution, and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Los Choneros, one of Ecuador’s most violent transnational criminal organizations, is linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and controls key cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador by operating a vast network responsible for the shipment and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America, through Central American and Mexico, to the United States and elsewhere.
On September 5, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Los Choneros as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). Bermúdez Cagua is the first Los Choneros member to appear on the Narcotics Rewards Program’s target list.
DEA encourages anyone with information about Bermúdez Cagua to contact DEA at +593988292235 (text/WhatsApp/Signal) or email at ecuadortips@dea.gov or informa@recompensas131.org. All identities are kept strictly confidential.