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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. will "blow up" foreign crime groups if needed, possibly in collaboration with other countries, the BBC reported.
"Now they're gonna help us find these people and blow them up, if that's what it takes," the BBC quoted Rubio as saying during a visit to Ecuador.
He also announced the U.S. will designate two of Ecuador's largest criminal gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organizations, according to the BBC.
The comments come days after the U.S. military carried out a deadly strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea allegedly carrying illegal narcotics.
Asked whether smugglers coming from U.S. allies, like Mexico and Ecuador, could face "unilateral execution" from US forces, Rubio said "co-operative governments" would help identify smugglers, according to the BBC.
"The president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they've been waging war on us for 30 years and no-one has responded.
"But there's no need to do that in many cases with the friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us."
Legal experts told BBC Verify the strike may have violated international human rights and maritime law.
Late on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defense accused two Venezuelan military aircraft of flying near a U.S. vessel in a "highly provocative move designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations". Venezuela is yet to respond to the claim.
Rubio also announced Washington would issue $13.5m in security aid and $6m in drone technology to help Ecuador crack down on drug trafficking, according to the BBC.