Ecuador claims to have seized 187.3 tons of drugs in 2024
Ecuadorian Police Oficcers during an arrest, Aug 2024 Photo: @PoliciaEcuador
August 26, 2024 Hour: 7:50 pm
Ecuador has seized 187.3 tons of drugs so far this year, 23% more compared to the same period in 2023, when the amount seized was 152.6 tons, reported on Monday the Minister of Interior, Monica Palencia.
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During the same period, national violence decreased by 17%, the official said at a press conference of the so-called Security Bloc, composed of the Government, the Police and the Armed Forces to confront and reduce organized crime in the country.
Palencia explained that intentional homicides in Ecuador increased from 4,942 to 4,111 during the period, and noted that nine out of ten of these crimes are linked to criminal gangs.
The Minister of Defence, Giancarlo Loffredo, reported on some of the most recent operations carried out in the country, in which several people were arrested, including alias ‘Alan’, alleged leader of the criminal group ‘Las Águilas’, Plus 31 band members.
He also mentioned the operation ‘Gran Golpe’, in which 4.5 tons of drugs were seized in an operation carried out on the high seas that intercepted the goods in the so-called ‘Ruta del Desierto’, “historically used by drug traffickers”, according to Loffredo, who did not detail the type of narcotic.
With this seizure, 42 tons have already been seized at sea this year, which, the minister noted, represents 840 million dollars less for “criminal mafias”.
The official reiterated that “it is a popular cry for more severe penalties for criminals”.
On the other hand, the general commander of the police, Victor Zarate, stated that to date, among the targets identified by the security forces, 9 out of 18 considered high value (top managers of criminal organizations) are in pre-trial detention.
Among the 238 intermediate-level (middle-level) Zarate indicated that 134 of them have been captured.
With regard to the results at the national level, the commander referred again to the 187 tons of seized drugs mentioned by Minister Palencia, as well as more than $5 million in cash, 10,000 mobile phones, 7,282 firearms and 308,000 rounds of ammunition, among others.
Autor: CC
Fuente: EFE
