The National Police of Ecuador, in coordination with the United States, on Thursday dismantled a criminal cell linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), during an operation carried out in three provinces of the Andes country and in which thirty people were detained, Interior Minister John Reimberg said.
The official said that this morning the National Police, together with U.S. troops and DEA, carried out the operation that left detainees in Guayaquil, Daule, Samborondón, Ventanas, Babahoyo, Puebloviejo, Vinces and Machala.
He said more than 320 members of the Ecuadorian National Police and 50 members of the U.S. Southern Command were involved in the operation.
He pointed out that the disarticulated organization “has no link with local bands. it had a direct relationship with the CJNG. The investigation took about eight months,” he explained.
According to the official, the structure was dedicated to the acquisition, intermediation, distribution, transportation and marketing of large amounts of drug from Colombia, which was intended to be shipped by sea from ports of Guayaquil and Machala to Central America, the United States and Europe.
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Surrounded by Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest cocaine producers, and with several ports on its coasts, such as Guayaquil, and a dollarized economy, Ecuador has become in recent years an important step for the trafficking of that drug that is mostly aimed at Europe and North America.
Ecuador is considered the third country in the world to seize the most drugs after Colombia and the United States, with 200 tons per year in 2021 and a historic record of close to 300 tons in 2024.
Reimber noted that to get to the disarticulated structure on Thursday, “during this year, there has been an impact of $322 billion among all the drug cargoes seized.”
Ecuador has been living since 2024 under a state of “internal armed conflict” declared by President Daniel Noboa to intensify the fight against the criminal gangs, which he has called “terrorists”.
Despite this declaration, 2025 closed with a record number of homicides in Ecuador, accounting for around 9,300, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior.
Information from EFE.
