Ecuadorian security forces seized nearly 14 tons of cocaine in operations carried out in the first half of January 2022.
On January 18, the Ecuadorian National Police (PNE, in Spanish) reported that in two operations carried out in Isidro Ayora and Salitre, Guayas province, agents seized 8,187 kilograms of cocaine and arrested a Colombian and three Ecuadorian nationals in two warehouses used to contaminate containers bound for Europe.
On January 17, the PNE announced that in a similar operation carried out in Santa Clara de Daule, Guayas province, agents seized 1,171 kg of cocaine and arrested eight criminals in a rural farm that also served as a warehouse for international narcotrafficking networks.
That same day, the PNE reported seizing 700 kg of cocaine in two operations. In the first, anti-drug agents seized 500 kg of cocaine in a truck in Tababuela, Imbabura province. While in the second operation, the National Canine Unit and the Special Mobile Anti-narcotics Group found 200 kg of cocaine in a building in Naranjal, Guayas province. Seven Ecuadorian nationals were also detained.
On January 16, the PNE reported the seizure of 253 kg of cocaine that criminals had hidden in banana boxes on a ship bound for Greece, in Puerto Bolívar, El Oro province.
On January 14, the PNE reported that its actions had averted the distribution of 400 kg of cocaine that were being moved in cargo vehicles from Quito, Pichincha province, to other provinces in the country’s north.
In addition, PNE personnel carried out 22 simultaneous operations in Guayaquil, Guayas province, leading to the seizure of 1,453 kg of cocaine, the law enforcement agency announced on January 7. Authorities detained 18 people involved in narcotrafficking.
On January 6, the PNE also indicated via Twitter that thanks to “the work of investigative units, with our counterparts from Colombia and the United States, we seized 940 kg of cocaine hydrochloride, after inspecting a container that arrived at the Port of Cartagena, Colombia.”
On January 5, the PNE reported that anti-narcotics agents had seized 44 kg of cocaine hidden in the refrigeration panels of a container carrying bananas, on a ship in the Port of Guayaquil, Guayas province, bound for Russia.
Finally, on January 3, the PNE confirmed the seizure of 800 kg of cocaine in a container bound for Spain, also in the port of Guayaquil.
