Ecuadorian Police Seizes 160 Kg of Cocaine in Esmeraldas, Border with Colombia

Ecuadorian Police with cocaine seized, Sept 18, 2024 Photo: Policia Ecuador

September 18, 2024 Hour: 4:29 pm

Ecuadorian police reported on Wednesday the seizure of 160 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a vehicle, in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, bordering Colombia.

In an operation called ‘Urus’ carried out on Tuesday in the emerald city of Rio Verde, the police intercepted 167 packages of cocaine camouflaged in a van.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Elkin Steven J. L. was arrested during the proceedings and 160 kilograms of cocaine were seized in 167 packages.

With the execution of this intervention, the Police estimated that it took off the market 1.6 million doses of narcotic substances, which were intended to be marketed.

#ATENCIÓN ||

INCAUTAMOS MÁS DE UN MILLÓN Y MEDIO DE DOSIS DE COCAÍNA ENCALETADO EN UN VEHÍCULO

Tras operaciones de interdicción terrestre en el sector Montalvo, #Esmeraldas, interceptamos un vehículo que transportaba 160 kilos de cocaína oculto en el área de carga del… pic.twitter.com/LwWx5e8Za3
— Policía Ecuador (@PoliciaEcuador) September 18, 2024

In addition, “with this seizure it was possible to allocate about 6,400,000 dollars on the European market to organized armed groups,” said the police in a statement.

Surrounded by Colombia and Peru, the two largest producers of cocaine in the world, with several ports on its coasts, such as Guayaquil, and a dollar-rich economy, Ecuador has become in recent years an important step for the trafficking of this drug, which is mainly directed to Europe and North America.

Ecuador is listed as the third country in the world to seize more drugs, only behind Colombia and the United States, with some 200 tons of narcotics seized, according to records of the last three years, while from January 1 to September 15, Ecuador had seized 204.06 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine.