Ecuadorian authorities seized a total of 9,982 kilograms of cocaine in four different operations in Guayas province.
On July 13, 2021, the Ecuadorian National Police (PNE, in Spanish) intercepted a modified truck with compartments, which hid 500 kilograms of cocaine, on Samborondón road that connects with Guayaquil. During the operation, authorities detained one individual, the PNE reported in a video.
In another operation, on July 9, the PNE detained four members of a gang that sent large drug shipments overseas under the leadership of Mario Enrique C. Z., alias Kike, the Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo reported. The capture took place on a farm in Guayas province, where officers found 2.2 tons of cocaine hidden underground, the newspaper added.
Authorities are investigating whether Kike contaminated ships at sea, in Posorja, Guayaquil, where his accomplices controlled the vessels that placed the narcotics on ships after they had passed all inspections, the newspaper added.
On June 28, the PNE reported seizing 7,282 kg of cocaine that criminals had hidden in two containers, in Guayaquil. The stash was hidden in a tuna shipment that was bound for Spain.
“It’s the largest seizure that the National Police has ever made […] in the Maritime Port [of Guayaquil],” General Tannya Varela, PNE commander, told the press.
Centralized system
The strategy to counter narcotrafficking in Ecuador increasingly relies on international cooperation. As such, the U.S. government delivered technological equipment and software to the PNE’s General Directorate of Investigations on June 25, the police said in a statement.
The donation came through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) at the U.S. Embassy in Quito, the statement added. The donation is the first of others that will be arriving shortly, as part of the first stage of a security initiative to dismantle transnational organized crime, the statement said.
“This donation is the result of the good relations that exist and that we must continue to strengthen with […] the United States, to find the best way [to] attack transnational criminal organizations,” Gen. Varela said at the handover ceremony. “This will enable [us] to have a centralized system for timely processing and analysis of information,” said Ory Abramowicz, INL director in Ecuador.
From January through June 22, Ecuador seized more than 70 tons of drugs, the TV channel Ecuavisa reported on its website. Although Ecuador has managed to contain certain outbursts of violence in recent years, narcotrafficking in the country is increasing, indicated Insight Crime, an investigation and journalism organization that focuses on organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Narcotrafficking is already on a very high scale in the country. The police is attacking supply and demand,” Gen. Varela told Ecuavisa. “We will not let crime overtake us; we will be firm and tenacious in the fight against organized crime.”
