Ecuadorian Police Seizes Almost 900Kg of Cocaine in the Border with Peru

Ecuadorian Police with the Cocaine Seized, Aug 2024 Photo: Policia Ecuador

August 30, 2024 Hour: 10:50 pm

About 850 kilos of cocaine were seized by the Ecuadorian National Police in a property that was used as a banana packing plant, in an operation where two people were arrested, according to a statement issued by the police on Friday.

The seizure was carried out in the canton (municipality) of Pasaje, in the southern coastal province of El Oro, bordering Peru.

Inside the building, police officers found 847 packs of brick-shaped cocaine wrapped in packing tape, worth approximately $50.8 million.

The detainees were identified as Cristhian O., 40, and Patricia R., 38, with no criminal record in either case.

#SEGURIDAD
En menos de 24 horas, el Bloque de Seguridad, compuesto por fuerzas policiales y militares, interceptó otro importante cargamento de cocaína en El Oro. Esta vez, la operación se llevó a cabo en Pasaje, donde la droga fue encontrada escondida en cajas de banano listas… pic.twitter.com/U8CJxPNSBz
— Ecuador En Directo (@EcEnDirecto) August 30, 2024

Cocaine disguised in banana boxes is a common method used by the drug trafficking mafias to send drugs to Europe and North America, taking advantage of the fact that Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of this fruit.

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.