The Rise of Ecuador

[Junior]

Ecuador emerges as cocaine centre
The Star Phoenix, May 21, 2011

Ecuador is becoming a "United Nations" of organized crime with drug traffickers from Albania to China using it as a staging ground to strike deals with freelance Andean cocaine smugglers, a U.S. official said.

Ecuador is sandwiched between the world's top two cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, helping turn the Andean nation of 14 million into an underrecognized haven for international drug deals, the anti-drugs official said.

"We have cases of Albanian, Ukrainian, Italian, Chinese organized crime all in Ecuador, all getting their product for distribution to their respective countries," Jay Bergman, DEA director for the Andean region of South America, told Reuters.

Colombian cartels controlled global cocaine distribution networks in the 1980s, but are now splintered and weakened after a crackdown by the country's security forces.

[Junior]

Opinion: Ecuador¡¯s Slide into Lawlessness
By Jos¨¦ R. C¨¢rdenas, May 28, 2011
Fox News Latino

It now appears that Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has won voters¡¯ approval to further consolidate his control over two institutions essential to the functioning of any healthy democracy: a free press and an independent judiciary.

While the vote tallies on the pertinent questions in the May 7th national referendum were no doubt closer than Correa expected, they unfortunately give his latest power grab a patina of legitimacy.

Like Hugo Ch¨¢vez in Venezuela, Correa has viewed a free press as an obstacle to his radical political project that must be defeated. In August 2009, he declared the Ecuadorean press ¡°the biggest adversary with a clear political role, though without any democratic legitimacy.¡±

It is not just a war of words, either. In December 2010, an elite police unit raided the offices of the Ecuadorean periodical Vanguardia, which had been investigating corruption in the Correa government. Recently, President Correa filed a criminal defamation complaint against a leading daily, El Universo, and several of its officers for column critical of his job performance.

The Correa government has also used tax laws to take over privately owned stations and regularly threatens to shut down others. At last count, the government controlled some twenty media companies, including three popular television stations (accounting at the time for about 40 percent of the country¡¯s nightly news audience) seized from the Isaias Group, a business conglomerate against which Correa has waged a particularly harsh vendetta.

Now, the President is in a position to pull the noose tighter on a free press. Voters approved permission to establish a communications law that would allow the government to strictly regulate media content and even hold individual journalists responsible for any violations.

President Correa also intends to prohibit an owner of any type of outside business from owning a media entity of any sort. This would force a number of the remaining owners of independent media entities to divest themselves from such entities or their other businesses. Clearly, freedom of expression and opposition access to the media will be severely curtailed if Correa has his way.

On the second major issue of the referendum pertaining to the judiciary, President Correa, apparently unsatisfied with the provisions on selecting judges in his own rewritten constitution of 2008, wants to change the rules again. Now, he wants to abolish the Supreme Court and, rather than judges being selected by an independent body, he wants the Executive (himself), Legislative (which his party controls), and the Judicial branches to form a commission on appointing judges.

Given the skewed representation, the new provision will effectively give Correa free rein to name his own judges, further undermining rule of law in Ecuador and placing the courts at the service of the President.

To be sure, Ecuador¡¯s struggle to establish a viable judicial system predates Correa¡¯s administration by years, but it is difficult to see how allowing the Chief Executive such discretion in appointing judges will improve matters in any way.

In addition to their deleterious effects on Ecuadorean democracy, the upheavals in the media and judicial sectors come at a particularly critical point in relation to broader regional security matters.

As Germany¡¯s Deutsche Welle reported last year, as a result of corruption, weak institutions and anti-money laundering laws, and lax anti©\terror financing laws, ¡°Ecuador is emerging as a focus for transnational criminal groups, according to U.S. and European officials. Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers as well as Chinese and African human traffickers use it as a business hub.¡±

This month, a senior DEA official told Reuters that Ecuador was becoming a ¡°United Nations¡± of organized crime with drug traffickers of various nationalities establishing bases of operation there. ¡°We have cases of Albanian, Ukrainian, Italian, Chinese organized crime all in Ecuador, all getting their product for distribution to their respective countries,¡± he said.
An increasingly politicized judiciary and a cowed media are no ways to confront this growing menace.

The gutting of democratic institutions and the undermining of separation of powers are hallmarks of Hugo Ch¨¢vez¡¯s so-called Bolivarian Alliance, as are the use of referendums to aggrandize power in the presidency and seek perpetual re-election. Correa, Ch¨¢vez, and Bolivia¡¯s Evo Morales play on the majority of their peoples¡¯ deep-seated desire for change, but can only offer up anachronistic authoritarian solutions that have failed time and time again to benefit anyone but those in power.

It is a cruel hoax being played on populations with legitimate grievances. One hopes that Ecuadorean voters will soon recognize that Correa¡¯s autocratic behavior is no prescription for economic growth, security, or stability. It is also incumbent on the United States not be seen as enabling this destructive process. Instead, the United States should consistently counter the radical populist siren song, speak out against abuses of power and threats to democracy and rule of law, demonstrate solidarity with true Ecuadorean democrats, and emphasize the growing threats to regional security posed by international criminal groups.

Indeed, with Hugo Ch¨¢vez dominating headlines with his outrageous antics, it is easy to overlook the anti-democratic actions of Rafael Correa. It is time more attention is paid to the steady of erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms occurring today in Ecuador.

[Junior]

Ecuador to Debate Decriminalization
By Jeanna Cullinan, InSight.com
Monday, October 24, 2011

Proposed changes to Ecuador's penal code would decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use, including up to 10 grams of marijuana and hashish, four grams of opium, five grams of cocaine, and 100 milligrams of heroin.

Ecuador's National Assembly is scheduled to begin debate on the reforms within 90 days, reports La Hora newspaper. The proposed legislation distinguishes between types of drug trafficking offenses and defines penalties accordingly. Individuals who participate in large-scale drug trafficking and production, which is defined as 1000 times the quantity permitted for personal use, will be more harshly penalized than those participating in domestic production and distribution. The legislation also targets individuals participating in international trafficking networks with longer prison sentences than those who produce and distribute drugs for domestic consumption only. The proposal will also punish the production, transportation or distribution of precursor chemicals and the cultivation of illegal crops.

In addition to targeting drug production and trafficking, the proposed legislation lays out harsh penalties for murder and kidnapping for ransom. According to Justice Minister Johana Pesantez, modernization of the penal code is necessary to address the threat from organized crime, which has increasingly affected Ecuador. While proponents of decriminalization highlight the various benefits of the proposed reform, which will also allow limited resources be targeted for abuse prevention, others have voiced concern that decriminalizing possession of small amounts will increase drug use among young people who will no longer fear imprisonment.

[Junior]

Ecuador Poppy Field Find Highlights Shifting Heroin Production
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight.com
Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The discovery of an illicit poppy field in Ecuador draws attention to increasing production of heroin in Latin America, with the crop moving into new territories such as Guatemala.

On November 19, Ecuadorian police officers encountered a relatively rare sight in the South American country: a poppy field covering 12 acres in the central province of Cotopaxi. Officials destroyed the crops, but made no arrests.

Although not noteworthy for its size (officials estimate that the field would have produced just one kilogram of heroin), the find is unusual in Ecuador. The country is known more as a transit point for heroin from Colombia than as a source of the drug. As Flavio Mirella, the UNODC specialist on Ecuador noted recently, "The incidence [of poppy plantations] is in its infancy, it is not remarkably widespread.”

However, recent data suggests this may be changing, with poppy cultivation becoming increasingly common across the region. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) 2011 World Drug Report, the total potential for processed opium in Latin America rose by more than 450 percent in just five years, going from 95 metric tons in 2005 to 434 in 2010.

The vast majority of this increase is due to reported changes in heroin production in Mexico. Although Mexican officials dispute this, both United States and UN drug experts say that Mexican cartels have funded a surge in poppy cultivation in the country. The UNODC estimated that a net 19,500 hectares were used to grow poppy in 2009, up from just 3,300 in 2005. Perhaps the most well-known example of this involves the Sinaloa Cartel, which has sponsored a boom of small-scale poppy farming in the “Golden Triangle” states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua.

Meanwhile, Colombia, the other major powerhouse of illicit drug production in the hemisphere, has seen a dramatic reduction in heroin production over the past decade. From 2005 to 2009, the estimated total for poppy cultivation fell from 1,950 hectares to 356. Like the country’s sizeable reduction in coca cultivation, this is due at least in part to heightened security crackdowns and an increase in eradication programs.

But poppy production in Latin America is not limited to these two countries alone. Guatemala is also becoming a significant site of poppy cultivation. In its latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the U.S. Department of State claimed that there was “increasing prevalence and organization of poppy cultivation” in Guatemala. While there have been no reliable estimates on how much is produced in the country, the Guatemalan government reported eradicating 1,134 hectares in 2009. As InSight Crime has noted, this is more than the poppy eradication in Colombia for that year (1,100 hectares). This, combined with the fact that the Guatemalan government has not monitored poppy cultivation as thoroughly as the Colombians, suggests that the Central American country may be home to even more.

Of course, the main market for the products of Latin America's illicit poppy cultivation is the United States. While the exact numbers are not available, the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2011 National Drug Threat Assessment notes that nearly all of the heroin available in the U.S. is trafficked by Mexican, Colombian, or Dominican groups. That being said, local demand for heroin is increasing throughout the region, especially in urban centers. This trend is only likely to worsen as production continues to rise, and as Mexico continues its crackdown on drug trafficking groups, potentially forcing Mexican cartels to seek new markets for heroin in the region.

However, its worth noting that, according to the most recent UN estimates, the heroin production of Latin America is dwarfed by that of Asia. Latin America produces less than 450 metric tons of dried product a year, compared to 4,000 for Southwest and Southeast Asia combined.

[Junior]

Ecuador Touts Increased Cocaine Seizures in 2010
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight.com
Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Police in Ecuador claim to have seized significantly more cocaine this year than last, but total cocaine seizures are still far lower than in 2009.

El Comercio reports that the chief of the Ecuadorian National Police’s anti-narcotics division recently announced that officials have seized 25 metric tons of cocaine so far this year. This is 30 percent more than 2010, in which authorities claimed to have seized 18 tons.

However, the figure is still far lower than the amount of cocaine seized in 2009, which the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said was 65 tons.

On top of this, it is unclear whether this increase is due to improved interdiction efforts or the country’s growing importance as a cocaine transit route. According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, around 220 tons of cocaine pass through Ecuador each year.

The trend seems to be increasing, as both Colombian and Mexican drug trafficking organizations are thought to be deepening operations in the country. Indeed, the diversity of transnational criminal groups that are based in Ecuador caused one U.S. drug official to refer to country as the "UN of organized crime" in July.

[Junior]

Ecuador Criminal Gangs Show Military-Style Training: Police
Written by Ronan Graham, InSight.com
Friday, December 2, 2011

Quito’s police chief has warned that the Ecuadorian security forces may be involved in organized crime, noting that the professionalism of some attacks carried out in the city suggest that criminal gangs have had military-style training.

The commander of Quito’s Metropolitan Police, Colonel Juan Carlos Rueda, made the comments during a debate organized by El Comercio newspaper on “Insecurity in Quito - Strategies for 2012.”

The secretary of homeland security, Lourdes Rodriguez, said that the city faced “serious” security problems, but stressed that the homicide rate in Quito is below the national average.

Ecuador has shown signs of becoming a new hotspot for transnational organized crime in recent years. Transnational criminal gangs from Colombia and Mexico are thought to be increasing their presence in the country, prompting a U.S. drug official to refer to country as the "UN of organized crime" in July.

As InSight Crime has previously reported, political instability, lax visa policies, the country’s proximity to Colombian drug cultivation areas and the adoption of the U.S. dollar as official currency (facilitating money laundering) have all played a part in the increasing presence of these gangs in Ecuador.

[Junior]

How Gangs Have Disturbed the Math of Football in El Salvador
Written by Roberto Valencia, InSight.com
Friday, December 2, 2011

Most of El Salvador’s professional soccer teams have stopped giving players the numbers 13 and 18, fearing reprisals from the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs. El Faro investigates.

The evidence is in the Salvadoran Soccer Federation·itself, there for anyone who wants to see it. On the right, as soon as you enter the main building, are cubicles for the 2nd Division, with a large noticeboard and a sign saying "Championship 2011-2012." Below, neatly arranged and held up by colored pins, there are 10 sheets of paper with the line up of the teams. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 -- all normal until 12. But there is no 13, and no 18.

In the three top national soccer leagues there are 66 clubs registered, of which only 14 -- 21 percent -- think it appropriate in the current climate to use 13 and 18. Those who are behind the measure explain that it is an attempt to avoid attacks on the players.

But not everyone agrees with the initiative. Marcelino Dias, a forensic psychologist who has worked with the government forensic institute since 1993, thinks that in some way it legitimizes the maras (gangs) and recognizes their influence on society. “The state should be the one that control people’s behavior, through laws, but in El Salvador many aspects of social conduct are controlled by criminal groups, and what has happened in soccer is a clear example.”

El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, at 65 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010. The United Nations considers anything over 10 per 100,000 to be an “epidemic.” According to the national police (PNC), more than half of the murders are related to the maras. The Armed Forces go further and speak of 90 percent.

“Fear is the most effective way to control a society, and the gangs know that,” added the sociologist Diaz.

The Origins

The decision to give up the numbers 13 and 18 is not new. The world of soccer began to consider the move -- on its own initiative, and with absolute discretion -- at least four years ago. After receiving some complaints from players who were wearing those numbers, the measure was discussed in presidents’ meeting in each of the leagues, and was approved as a suggestion, so it was the teams who took the decision

“For a player it's dangerous to go around with those numbers on his back when he comes from Soyapango and places like that, says Orsy Tejada, president of Brasilia, of Suchitoto (Cuscatlan).

"Our goalkeeper still plays with the 13 on his back, but we are thinking about removing the number because some players live in other places and they could be attacked,” said Elba Josefina Peña, president of La Asuncion, in Anamoros (La Union). “There have not been any deaths because of this, but there have been beatings, insults, verbal aggression, rocks thrown, etc.,” says Pinto.

Why 13, Why 18?

Barrio 18, or the 18 (also wrongly known as Mara 18) is the Hispanic name of the 18th Street Gang, a group created in Los Angeles in the 1970s. Originally made up of Mexican migrants, various investigators have said it was the first Latin gang to open its doors to people of different origins. In El Salvador it is currently divided into two factions, called Sureños and Revolucionarios. Even though they are deadly rivals, neither group has given up the 18 as a mark of identity.

The origins of the rival group, the MS-13, are more recent. It also emerged in Los Angeles, but well into the 1970s, and also in the Rampart area, the same sector in which the 18 was born. Some investigators think that the Mara Salvatrucha is a group that splintered off from Barrio 18 because, at the beginning, most of its members were Salvadoran migrants.

Both the MS-13 and Barrio 18 are southern gangs, that is to say, they are under the umbrella of a criminal structure called the Mexican Mafia or La Eme (The M). The identifying number for the Eme is 13 -- the letter M is the the 13th letter of the alphabet -- and that’s why all the southern gangs are identified with that number. Contrary to popular belief, the 13 does not divide the groups, but unites them. Hundreds of members of the 18 have a 13 tattoo, without it being a problem.

The number 18, however, is banned and reviled among the members of Mara Salvatrucha as being for the exclusive use of the rival group, which adopted it because, in its earlier years it began to gain strength in some parts of 18th Street in Los Angeles.

The symbolism around these two numbers was born, then, in Los Angeles, thousands of kilometers from El Salvador. Central America imported and radicalized it. And now Salvadoran soccer is paying the toll.

A Violent Time

For the psychologist Marcelino Diaz, the decision by soccer teams not to use the numbers is a step back for the country. “It is evidence that the gangs, with their violent deaths and dismembering, have managed to intimidate a society.”

On his reading, what is happening in the world of football is not far removed from other developments, also motivated by the development of the maras, like the fact that some public institutions are in practice aligned with one pandilla or another. This makes them no-go zones for young people that live in areas under the influence of a rival gang, even if they are not members of the mara.

“Little by little we are allowing the gang members to stop us doing what we have to do. Even though what is happening with soccer is only a small, symbolic step, if we start to give way on these things, more demands will come,” concluded the sociologist Diaz.

[Junior]

Ecuador Destroys 4,000 Illegal Weapons
Written by Ronan Graham, InSight
Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Ecuadorian Army has destroyed almost 4,000 illegal weapons seized by the military and the police over the past year.

The army destroyed a total of 3,903 firearms in the furnaces of the Adelca steel company in the north of the country on Wednesday, including machine guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers, as well as a large amount of ammunition.

Edwin Lara, the head of the Department of Arms Control, said the weapons were held for at least 90 days by the Joint Command of the Armed Forces (CCFFAA) before being approved for destruction.

Over half of the weapons were seized in raids in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest and the most populous city. Around 40 percent were seized in Pichincha province, where the capital, Quito, is situated.

Firearm-related violence is a growing problem in some parts of Ecuador, with El Telagrafo reporting that 58 per cent of assaults and robberies in Quito are committed with a firearm. Gang related violence seem to be increasing in the capital and the secretary of homeland security, Lourdes Rodriguez, recently admitted that the city faces a “serious” security problem.

An arms trafficking ring based in Quito, supplying weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was dismantled by police in March. During the operation, police seized a large cache of weapons, including semi-automatic rifles.

[Junior]

Ecuador Navy Intercepts 'Narco-Sub,' Arrests Crew
Written by Geoffrey Ramsey, InSight.com
Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Ecuadorian military reported detecting a semi-submersible drug trafficking vessel off the country’s Pacific Coast, though it was scuttled before officials could inspect its contents.

A navy helicopter spotted the craft while on patrol over the Gulf of Guayaquil. Upon realizing they had been seen, the crew abandoned the semi-submersible and sank it before authorities came, swimming to the safety of two nearby fishing boats.

The Coast Guard intercepted the fishing boats, arresting three Colombians and one Ecuadorian on drug trafficking charges.

Though they were unable to recover the narco-sub, an unnamed official told the Associated Press that it was 13 meters long and 3 wide, and had the capacity to hold up to 8 tons of cargo. It is not known whether it was carrying drugs when it was sunk.

InSight Crime Analysis

This is not the first time that Ecuadorian officials have intercepted a narco-sub. In July 2010 security forces found the first fully-operational, completely submersible smuggling craft in a makeshift shipyard along the Pacific. At 100 feet long and equipped with a periscope, the find was labeled a "game-changer” by counternarcotics officials because of its ability to travel to the US from South America with a low likelihood of being detected.

As InSight Crime has reported, security crackdowns throughout the region have made drug traffickers increasingly reliant on such homemade underwater vessels, which are becoming more and more sophisticated. According to a 2010 report released by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the use of semi-submersibles has "strongly increased" over the past several years. The INCB cites official Colombian figures which indicate that only 19 were seized worldwide from 1993 and 2007, but 34 were seized in 2008 and 2009 alone.

[Junior]

Ecuador Weapons Seizure Points to Thriving Small Arms Trade
Written by Edward Fox, InSight.com
Friday, February 17, 2012

Ecuador's military seized 170 firearms in the south of the country, raising the issue once again of the country's importance as a transit nation for small arms moving to Colombia.

The seizure, which included some 7,000 rounds of munition, shotguns, handguns and rifles, came in the southern province of El Oro which borders Peru. No arrests were made.

Ecuadorian authorities carried out the operation just one week after they found a similar, though smaller, cache of weapons in the area, according to the news agency Andes.

InSight Crime Analysis

The possible destination of the weapons was not made clear by authorities. However, previous seizures have pointed to connections with the Colombian rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This most recent cache may well have similar links.

One of the biggest operations against arms-trafficking came in March last year when Ecuadorian authorities dismantled an alleged FARC firearms factory in Quito. The FARC have long maintained munition factories in Ecuadorian territory as a way of evading Colombian authorities. This history of involvement in the arms trade in Ecuador would seemingly make the FARC a potential recipient for the 170 firearms if indeed they were being moved north.

Ecuador has long been a source country of black market weapons for Colombia, according to a report by RAND, with trafficked small arms often being stolen from military stockpiles or illegally resold by corrupt private security firms.

[Junior]

'Colombian Rastrojos Dominate Ecuador Drug Trade'
Written by Tatiana Farmarzi, InSight
Monday, April 16, 2012

Colombian drug gang the Rastrojos may now control almost all the drug trafficking routes in Ecuador, shipping their product to Mexican groups like the Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, according to reports.

El Comercio reports that, according to police intelligence, the Rastrojos dominate almost all routes for trafficking drugs through Ecuador, and are working to control the routes through Esmeraldas, on the Pacific coast, and Carchi and Sucumbios, on the border with Colombia.

According to the report, the Rastrojos send drug shipments by sea from Ecuador's ports to Mexican groups like the Gulf Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, and the Zetas.

The Rastrojos' main operating bases in Ecuador are in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, an inland province to the northwest of the country, and Manabi, on the Pacific coast.

InSight Crime Analysis

Juan Carlos Calle Serna (pictured), brother of the leaders of the Rastrojos, was captured in Quito last month. He was likely residing there in part to avoid pressure from the Colombian authorities. However, the reports on the Rastrojos’ operations in Ecuador indicate that the country is far more than just a safehouse for the Colombian organization’s leaders. Indeed, Calle Serna was reportedly tasked with managing the organization's foreign contacts.

Rastrojos bosses Luis Enrique and Javier Antonio Calle Serna have allegedly been negotiating a surrender deal with the US. However, if the Rastrojos do now control the majority of the drug trade through Ecuador, this suggests that the brothers would be giving up an extremely powerful network, and that the US would need to offer them substantial concessions in order to make a deal.

The reports that Ecuador's drug routes are controlled by a Colombian gang point to the fact that the country's drug trade is dominated by foreign organizations. The Sinaloa Cartel is thought to have a presence there, as is the organization of Colombian trafficker Daniel "El Loco" Barrera. An recent assessment by the Ecuadorian military reportedly found that three of the four main entry points for drugs lay on the Colombian border, while the main exit points were all on the Pacific coast.

[Junior]

Ecuador's Poppy Find Points to Growing Heroin Production
Written by Tatiana Faramarzi, InSight.com
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Ecuador destroyed some 411,000 poppy plants in a central province, in another indication that heroin production could be on the rise in the Andean country.

The armed forces announced Tuesday that the poppy incineration was the result of joint military and police operations in Chimborazo, central Ecuador.

The illicit plants were systematically placed among legal crops, a planting technique that signaled to authorities that the poppies were not weeds, as members of the community had claimed.

InSight Crime Analysis

The find of poppy crops is rare in Ecuador, which is not a significant heroin producer. The UN has said that poppy cultivation in the county is in its infancy, but recent discoveries indicate that the crop may be blossoming in the Ecuadorian Andes. A poppy field was discovered in the central province of Cotopaxi in November 2011, while on March 23, the authorities destroyed 120,000 opium poppy plants, also in Chimborazo.

According to the US State Department’s 2012 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Ecuador eradicated 22,149 opium poppy plants in 2011 -- less than 5 percent of the total amount eradicated in the two operations in Chimborazo.

The presence of drug trafficking gangs such as Colombia’s Rastrojos and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel in Ecuador may be contributing to an increase in domestic coca and poppy production. The country’s anti-drug chief, Nelson Villegas, reports that Ecuador has seized about 12 tons of narcotics since January. This year is shaping up to see far higher drug seizures than the last two years; 26 tons were seized in 2011, and 18 tons in 2010.

[Junior]

Organized Crime is Top Priority of Ecuador Military: Correa
Written by Christopher Looft, InSight.com
Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Ecuador's president has called organized crime the number one target for the country's military, in a sign that he is planning to expand the force's internal security role.

During the inauguration of new Defense Minister Miguel Carvajal, President Rafael Correa said the country's armed forces would prioritize the fight against organized crime, reports El Comercio. Correa said there "could not be a successful fight against crime without the participation of the armed forces."

According to military sources contacted by El Comercio, the military sent the government a proposal in October 2011, which has not yet been approved, requesting $6 million worth of police gear, including carbines, pepper spray, and tear gas. As the sources told El Comercio, the armed forces have already received $2 million in riot suits, vehicles, and other police equipment.

InSight Crime Analysis

Correa's comments and his appointment of a new defense minister follow a report by the military warning that organized crime could soon overwhelm the country, which has seen rising drug seizures in 2012. In the document, the army reportedly warned that it would be forced to intervene if drug related violence continues to rise.

Ecuador's military has increasingly been deployed for domestic policing since 2010, amid rising crime and following a police "revolt" in that year. The armed forces conduct border security operations, anti-drug work, and patrol the streets in some areas. Correa's comments suggest that he plans to step up the forces' internal security role, even though the country's constitution assigns that responsibility to the police.

Other countries in the region have also been expanding the role of the police in fighting crime, including neighboring Bolivia. This can be problematic, leading to heavy-handed policing and human rights abuses.

[Junior]

Mexican 'Narco-Plane' Crashes in Ecuador
Written by Edward Fox, InSight.com
Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A suspect plane carrying over $4 million in cash crashed in northwest Ecuador, killing two Mexican citizens on board, in an indication of the importance of the country as a drug transhipment point and money laundering location.

The Mexican-registered light aircraft (pictured) crashed on Sunday into the so-called "Hill of Death," 26 kilometers southeast of Pedernales in the Pacific province of Manabi. It did not have permission from Ecuador's aviation authority, which stated that the plane was flying too low in order to avoid being detected by radar, reported AFP.

Authorities believe that the two deceased Mexicans were either planning to launder the money, estimated to be $4-5 million in US currency, or use it to purchase narcotics.

Ecuador's Interior Minister Jose Serrano declared that while transnational criminal organizations are not necessarily located in Ecuador, they do operate through the country, which is an important transit point for drugs, reported El Universo.

According to El Comercio, this is the fourth Mexican suspected narco-plane to be found in Ecuador since 2003. The most recent was discovered in September with 1.5 tons of narcotics on board, reportedly belonging to a Mexican-headed criminal group.

InSight Crime Analysis

If the crashed plane was indeed carrying money to pay for a drug shipment, this would be further evidence of Mexican groups' presence in Ecuador. The country's drug trade is dominated by Mexican and Colombian gangs, with the Colombian Rastrojos reportedly the most powerful criminal organization in Ecuador, sending drug shipments from Pacific ports up to Mexico. The Mexican Sinaloa Cartel are also thought to be present.

Mexican criminal organizations are increasing their control further down the drug supply chain, coming to South America themselves to carry out drug deals and organize the shipments north. Though not a major drug-producing nation, Ecuador is a key transit point for narcotics. According to the UN, the Andean country seized the second highest quantity of cocaine in South America in 2009.

The money laundering thesis is also plausible -- Ecuador is a good location for laundering illicit funds, as it uses the US dollar as its currency.

Last month, Ecuador's defense minister unveiled a plan to train some 4,000 military personnel to combat organized crime, days after President Rafael Correa declared that the military was key to a successful fight against criminal gangs. This followed concerns within the military command, expressed in a leaked document, that the country could soon be overrun by organized crime.

[Junior]

Ecuador's Drug Seizures Point to Possible Increase in Consumption
Written by Edward Fox, InSight.com, Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Ecuador's authorities announced they have seized more than $1.5 million of narcotics related to the local drug trade in Quito so far this year, a sign that one observer says points to a growth in domestic drug consumption.

Since the beginning of 2012, anti-narcotics police detained some 1.6 tons of drugs in the country's capital, of which 98 percent was marijuana, and the remainder predominantly cocaine. In total, the drugs had a combined value of $1.53 million, reported El Universo.

National Police Chief Patricio Franco stated that these anti-narcotics operations also saw 327 people arrested, 305 of whom were Ecuadorean.

According to Ecuadorian security analyst Ricardo Camacho, these figures are representative of a considerable upward trend in the country's drug consumption, something he told EFE news agency·has grown 300 percent since 2007.

InSight Crime Analysis

Despite being a major transit point for drugs, particularly cocaine trafficked from Colombia, Ecuador historically has one of the lowest rates of domestic consumption in Latin America. According to the most recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report, though cocaine use in Ecuador appeared to be on the increase, it still ranked far below the region's main consumers such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile.·

However, these statistics, along with those from the Organization of American States' (OAS) 2011 report, which ranked Ecuador similarly, are based on 2007 findings from the country, making Camacho's claim of a three-fold increase in five years both hard to verify and to disprove. Though the US State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2012 also states the country has an "increasing problem of domestic drug consumption," the increase in seizures may point to improving success rates of police operations rather than a wider availability of drugs.·

What is clear is the importance of Quito to the domestic drug market. Thirteen percent of all narcotics seizures this year in Ecuador were related to the capital's micro-trafficking networks. Though the high percentage of Ecuadoreans arrested so far in 2012 would suggest these networks remain largely in the hands of local gangs, last year's arrest of the head of the Colombian La Cordillera gang, a group that allegedly controlled much of Quito's drug market, showed that Ecuador's urban areas may be susceptible to foreign influence as well.

[Junior]

Ecuador Identifies Illegal Crossings on Colombia Border
Written by Michael Kane, InSight.com
Monday, June 11, 2012

Ecuador's government has reported the existence of 26 unsanctioned border crossings into Colombia, which pose a security problem to both countries, as Ecuador is becoming an increasingly important drug transshipment point for Colombian gangs.

Many of the border crossings that the Defense Ministry identified to Ecuadorian newspaper La Hora are concentrated in the troubled province of Carchi, a known refuge for Colombian rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and in Sucumbios. (See InSight Crime's map of Ecuador's illegal border crossings, below).

When Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos had their first formal meeting in December, the problem of illegal border crossings was high on the agenda. These have been widely tolerated by both governments for years; farmers and business owners in the region contend that because of the lack of formal border crossings, they must use these informal points to move their goods across the border.

However, the crossings present a threat to regional security, as they may also be used to smuggle weapons, drugs, and precursor chemicals between the two countries. According to La Hora, the last time Colombia and Ecuador attempted to shut down several of these illegal border crossings was in 2004.

InSight Crime Analysis

Since Santos improved relations with Ecuador, much of the renewed relationship between the two countries has focused on combating the criminal groups that straddle the border. In the past several years Ecuador has become a major smuggling route for various contraband, and increasing cooperation between the two Andean countries is aimed at curbing that growth.

A 2011 report by International Crisis Group describes this increased collaboration. In June 2011, the two countries initiated an intelligence sharing agreement. Ecuador also passed a tougher refugee law to make it more difficult for Colombians to take advantage of asylum in Ecuador, as some were claiming refugee status in order to orchestrate illegal cross-border activities. Meanwhile, Bogota began funneling more mining, oil, and gas royalties to border provinces, so that these local governments could rely on a bigger budget for security issues.

Other signs of cooperation have revolved around a militarized response. In January, Correa sent 10,000 more troops to the northern border to increase security. In April, he made a rare acknowledgment that the FARC are indeed present in Ecuador, and reaffirmed his government's commitment towards pursuing and capturing them.

The cooperation has had limited results. In November 2011, Ecuador announced a 30 percent increase in cocaine seizures compared to 2010. However, this was still markedly lower than the 2009 seizure rate. It is also unclear whether this increase is because the Ecuadorian security forces are more effective at tracking and seizing drug shipments, or because there is simply more cocaine moving through the country.

[Junior]

Ecuador Seizes 'FARC' Arms Shipment on Peru Border
Written by Michael Kane, InSight.com
Thursday, August 2, 2012

Ecuadorian authorities seized an illegal shipment of weapons allegedly destined for the FARC that included anti-aircraft munitions and sub-machine guns, on the border with Peru.

The shipment, which was confiscated in the border town of Huaquillas on August 1, also contained mortars, anti-tank weapons, and .50 caliber ammunition, reported El Tiempo.

Ecuadorian authorities detained two adults and a minor, one of whom was Colombian.

El Pais reported that the shipment had crossed the border from Peru. The local police chief admitted that due to the length of the border, it is likely that there are “secret places through which arms are probably passing,” but said that the police are committed to stopping this flow.

InSight Crime Analysis

Ecuador is a major point of supply for Colombian guerrilla groups. A 2005 report by the RAND Corporation found that arms entering Colombia from Ecuador “emanate mostly from stolen military stocks ... that have been illegally resold by members of private security firms.” In March 2011, a raid on a weapons factory in Quito revealed an alleged arms trafficking ring that was suspected of supplying the FARC.

A similar shipment was seized in southwestern Ecuador in February, and in June, Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal reported that police in Cauca had seized an arms shipment that included 400 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition hidden in butter crates from an Ecuadorian company. Authorities claimed the shipment had entered Colombia across the Ecuadorian border.

Ecuador is not the only source of small arms for Colombia's criminal groups. Last month, Colombian police intercepted a shipment of firearms en route to the Rastrojos gang just miles from the Venezuelan border. The weapons had Venezuelan military markings.

These criminal groups get some of their supplies from within Colombia. An army officer in the northeastern city of Arauca was recently arrested while transporting arms and military uniforms that were allegedly intended for the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group.