US to ‘blow up’ foreign crime groups, if necessary

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.

“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 U.S. will designate two of Ecuador’s largest criminal gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organisations.

The comments come days after U.S. forces carried out a strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The White House says it killed 11 drug-traffickers, though it did not release their identities.