Overview
- On Thursday, August 6, 2026, the government published Resolución Conjunta 4/2026 that officially labels Chone Killers an “organización terrorista” and orders their inscription in the Registro Público de Personas y Entidades Vínculadas a Actos de Terrorismo y su Financiamiento (RePET).
- The resolution, signed by Security Minister Alejandra Susana Monteoliva and Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, gives the Ministry of Justice the duty to complete the formal registration after the measure was published in the Boletín Oficial.
- Argentina justified the step with classified intelligence it says shows the group’s transnational expansion and a real or potential threat to the life, property and security of residents, and described RePET listing as a necessary, proportional tool for prevention and early detection of terrorism financing.
- The move aligns Argentina with Ecuador’s 2024 designation of the group and a recent U.S. action, and it took place as President Javier Milei visited Quito where Ecuadorian officials welcomed the decision as part of regional security cooperation.
- Chone Killers are described in official and press accounts as a violent narcoterrorist gang based in Guayas province with leaders such as Gabriel Israel Carriel (“Ben 10”) and Julio Alberto M. A. (“Negro Tulio”), and RePET listing could let Argentine authorities freeze assets, restrict financial flows and strengthen cross‑border investigations.