Ecuador, once known as "island of peace" by its inhabitants during the 1980s and 1990s, in comparison to its neighbors, Colombia and Peru, which at the time were plagued by bloody conflicts related to guerrilla warfare and drug trafficking, has seen a signi?cant rise in its homicide rate over the past four years, increasing from 5.82 in 2019 to 44.5 by the end of 2023, with a 16.16% reduction in homicides during the ?rst half of 2024. This shift has transformed Ecuador from one of the safest countries in the Americas to the most violent on the continent (excluding the Caribbean). One of the primary non-structural causes driving this unprecedented surge in crime is the competition for micro-traf?cking markets. This is because national drug trafficking organizations (22 of them, now classified as terrorist groups by the government) typically do not receive cash as payment from their foreign contractors for drug transportation and exportation. Instead, they receive a portion of the drugs themselves, which must then be sold to generate cash, leading to territorial con?icts among these groups. The Armed Forces are being deployed in counter-terrorism operations in response to this security crisis. This study presents a strictly academic application of Operational Art tools against drug traf?cking, methodologically determining the center of gravity of the threat and proposing an Operational Approach to combat it. It concludes, among other things, that controlling borders, maritime zones, and airspace to prevent the entry of drugs, chemical precursors, and weapons will signi?cantly contribute to weakening terrorist organizations within the country. This strategic approach aims to confront these groups under favorable conditions for law enforcement agencies, thereby ensuring national sovereignty.