Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US will blow up foreign crime groups if needed, possibly in collaboration with other countries.
Now they're gonna help us find these people and blow them up, if that's what it takes, Rubio said during a visit to Ecuador.
He also announced the US will designate two of Ecuador's largest criminal gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organisations.
The comments come days after US forces carried out a strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The White House says it killed 11 drug-traffickers, although it did not release their identities.
Late on Thursday, the defense department accused two Venezuelan military aircraft of flying near a US vessel in a highly provocative move designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations. Venezuela is yet to respond to the claim.
Marco Rubio was asked whether smugglers coming from US allies, like Mexico and Ecuador, could face unilateral execution from US forces. He said cooperative governments would help identify smugglers.
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.
The Ecuadorian and Mexican governments have not said they would assist with military strikes.
In the wake of Tuesday's strike on the vessel in the southern Caribbean, President Donald Trump stated that the military operation targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as they transported illegal narcotics towards the US.
Legal experts told BBC Verify that the strike may have violated international human rights and maritime law.
Rubio also announced Washington would issue $13.5 million (£10 million) in security aid and $6 million in drone technology to help Ecuador crack down on drug trafficking.
Violence in Ecuador has soared in recent years as criminal gangs battle for control over lucrative cocaine routes.
According to government data, about 70% of the world's cocaine now passes through Ecuador in transit from neighbouring producing countries, like Colombia and Peru, to markets in the US, Europe, and Asia.
The designation of the two groups was desired by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who described his clampdown on criminal gangs as a war.
In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, he said he would be glad if the US considered Los Lobos and Los Choneros as terrorist groups because that's what they really are.
He also expressed a desire for US and European armies to join his fight.
Noboa is attempting to change Ecuador's constitution to allow foreign military bases in the country again – after the last US base was closed in 2009.
The designation means the US can target the assets and properties of anyone associated with the groups and share intelligence with the Ecuadorian government without limitations so it could take potentially lethal actions.
Soaring cartel violence in Ecuador has also driven migration from the South American country to the US.
According to immigration law experts, it remains unclear whether designating cartels as terrorist organisations will help or hinder victims seeking asylum in the US.
On one hand, it may mean they are now considered victims of terrorism, but on the other, some fear that those who have had to pay extortion to gangs could be penalized for 'materially supporting' them.
