Drug trafficking groups operating in Ecuador have been extending their tentacles toward illegal gold mining, which allows them to finance themselves and launder assets. Los Lobos, linked to Mexican Jalisco New Generation Cartel, is among those criminal groups, which in alliance with Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, funds itself by controlling and operating some 20 gold mines, Peruvian investigative news site OjoPúblico reported.
“Criminal groups are organized as businesses to seek profit. They are interested in accumulating capital, injecting it into the formal economy to mobilize it and enjoy it,” Juan Martens, a doctor in criminology from the University of Barcelona and researcher at Paraguay’s National University of Pilar/INECIP, told Diálogo on February 11. “It would be useless for them to have [containers] full of money, Pablo Escobar-style, without being able to use it. They are looking to have access to the money. They need to launder their assets and they find different opportunities in different places.”
For Pedro Manosalvas, director of Ecuador’s National Security Observatory, “organized crime groups have been narcotized and only one part is being talked about. It’s a whole conglomerate of crimes that go beyond drug trafficking,” he told Spanish daily El Independiente. “A report recently came out, indicating that organized crime groups managed to make nearly $1.2 billion in 2023 from mining activity, while the state [Ecuador] made $800 million. It’s staggering.”
Striking back
Faced with a severe wave of violence Ecuador enacted a state of emergency in early January, declaring an “internal armed conflict” and war on gang violence, working on regaining control.
In mid-January, in the north of the country, the Ecuadorian National Police dealt a blow to Los Lobos upon seizing 1,072 bags of gold from trucks in route to a processing plant. The seized shipment was valued at $2 million, Ecuadorian newspaper La Hora reported.
That same month, Ecuadorian Police also dismantled a cell of Los Lobos operating in Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton, Azuay province. This criminal gang financed its illicit activities through illegal mining and extortion of mining companies, Ecuadorian news site Primicias reported.
Days later, in early February, military units carried an operation against an illegal gold mine in Azuay, operated by criminal organization Los Choneros. According to authorities, members of Los Choneros made up to $1 million each month from the crimes linked to this illegal mining operation, Ecuadorian daily El Universo reported.
“For there to be illegal mining you need for city halls and provinces to allow organized crime to operate. Now there are four enclaves of illegal mining: in the northern border, in the south, in Zamora, and in Chinchipe and Napo,” Manosalvas added.
“They are far from Quito and Guayaquil. They are areas where there is less state presence and the state that remains is very corrupt.”
From January 9-February 14, security forces carried out more than 96,000 operations, detaining nearly 8,000 criminals, the Presidency of Ecuador said via X, adding that its “commitment to safety remains steadfast.”
International cooperation
In a scenario where criminal groups operate in various illicit markets the exchange of intelligence has been key to the success of Ecuadorian security forces’ operations.
“International cooperation or joint work between countries is fundamental to succeed in dismantling criminal groups,” Martens said. “These groups today are transnational, and we are not just referring to one or two countries. It involves structures that are in five, six, or seven countries in the Americas and structures that are also in Europe or Asia.”
For instance, thanks to an exchange of information with its Colombian counterpart, the Ecuadorian National Police captured Carlos Arturo Landázuri, alias El Gringo, top commander of the Oliver Sinisterra Front, part of the Second Marquetalia, a dissident armed group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), on January 21, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported.
Both Colombian National Police Commander William Salamanca and his Ecuadorian National Police counterpart César Zapata highlighted the joint work carried out to capture Landazuri, considered a high-value target for both security institutions.
In late January, a U.S. delegation travelled to Ecuador to coordinate support to the people of Ecuador amid the crisis, delivering more than 20,000 bullet proof vests and more than $1 million worth of critical security and emergency response equipment. The U.S. Department of Defense also committed to delivering a C-130H aircraft to Ecuador in March, while Ecuadorian forces have been benefitting from training ranging from digital forensics support to presidential protective details.
“Looking forward, the United States is investing in a $45 million program to reduce childhood malnutrition, increase access to clean drinking water, and improve sanitation; providing $13 million in equipment to protect the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense computer networks; and $2.4 million in additional vehicles and security equipment to support the work of police in Ecuador,” National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a February 9 statement.