Police in Ecuador seized almost 14 tons of drugs destined for Central America, the United States and Europe, announced authorities in the country where one of the largest illegal cocaine platforms on the American continent is located.
“During the ‘Gran Jericó 35’ operation, 42 raids were carried out in various provinces of the country, resulting in the arrest of 28 people and the seizure of 13.6 tons of drugs,” the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, wrote on social networks.
The police operation is the result of a year of investigations, with “exchange of information with Mexico, Colombia and the United States,” Zapata said.
Shotguns, machine guns and pistols were also seized, and another 33 people had already been arrested in raids that preceded the “Gran Jericó 35” operation and are involved in drug trafficking.
According to Quito police, the organized crime group was dismantled and had “international ties.”
The group was made up of Ecuadorian, Colombian and Venezuelan citizens involved in the trafficking of “alkaloid substances (chemical compounds) from Colombia.”
The announced raids occurred in eight of the 24 provinces of the country, which is experiencing an uncontrolled increase in drug trafficking and violence linked to organized crime.
The drugs, placed in containers at ports, were transported across the Pacific from the provinces of Manabí (southwest) and Esmeraldas, northeast, on the border with Colombia.
Since 2021, more than 500 tons of drugs have been seized in Ecuador and an increase in the number of homicides has been recorded.
The number of homicides quadrupled between 2018 and 2022, reaching a maximum value of 26 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s main cocaine producers, Ecuador has become a drug exporter due to its geographical position.
Drug traffickers are linked to criminal groups with international branches, such as the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.
Source: TSF
