{"id":8256,"date":"2023-09-05T09:01:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T13:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8256"},"modified":"2023-09-05T09:01:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T13:01:04","slug":"security-in-ecuador-has-come-undone-as-drug-cartels-exploit-the-banana-industry-to-ship-cocaine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8256","title":{"rendered":"Security in Ecuador Has Come Undone as Drug Cartels Exploit the Banana Industry to Ship Cocaine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex-video widescreen youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Los c\u00e1rteles de la droga explotan la industria bananera ecuatoriana para enviar coca\u00edna.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-z39LXy0Q5g?feature=oembed&#038;showinfo=0&#038;rel=0&#038;modestbranding=1&#038;iv_load_policy=3&#038;playsinline=1&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Men walk through a lush plantation between&nbsp;<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">Ecuador<\/span>&nbsp;\u2019s balmy Pacific coast and its majestic Andes, lopping hundreds of bunches of green bananas from groaning plants twice their height.<\/p>\n<p>Workers haul the bunches to an assembly line, where the bananas are washed, weighed and plastered with stickers for European buyers. Owner Franklin Torres is monitoring all activity on a recent morning to make sure the fruit meets international beauty standards \u2014 and ever more important, is packed for shipment free of cocaine.<\/p>\n<p>Torres is hypervigilant because Ecuador is increasingly at the confluence of two global trades: bananas and cocaine.<\/p>\n<div class=\"SovrnAd Advertisement sovrn-story-feed proper-dynamic-insertion\" data-module=\"\">\n<div class=\"proper-ad-unit\">The South American country is the world\u2019s largest exporter of bananas, shipping about 6.5 million metric tons (7.2 tons) a year by sea. It is also wedged between the world\u2019s largest cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia, and drug traffickers find containers filled with bananas the perfect vehicle to smuggle their product.<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Drug traffickers\u2019 infiltration of the industry that is responsible for about 30% of the world\u2019s bananas has contributed to unprecedented violence across this once-peaceful nation. Shootings, homicides, kidnappings and extortions have become&nbsp;<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ecuador-crime-cocaine-fernando-villavicencio-4f96684926c2600e2483373555a7cf42\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">part of daily life<\/a><\/span>, particularly in the Pacific port city and banana-shipping hub of Guayaquil.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is everyone\u2019s responsibility: the person who transports it, the person who buys it, the person who consumes it,\u201d vendor Dalia Chang, 59, a lifelong resident of Guayaquil, said of the cocaine trade. \u201cThey all share responsibility. They have ruined our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/23dfb0a\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1542x668+0+0\/resize\/1600x694!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fea%2Fcc%2F618f62d59617682a893321c705f5%2Fdbd937493e0b4a94a2738b6e1b84d05f\" width=\"1600\" height=\"694\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This file picture provided on Aug. 10, 2023 by the Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service shows 8,000 kilograms (17,637 pounds) of cocaine in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Customs authorities in the Netherlands said on Aug. 10 they intercepted a shipment of more than 8,000 kilograms (17,637 pounds) of cocaine at the Port of Rotterdam, and according to prosecutors, the drugs were discovered hidden in a container of bananas from Ecuador on July 13. (Openbaar Ministerie, Netherlands Public Prosecution Service via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The country, which is not a major cocaine producer, was especially rattled when a presidential candidate known for his tough stance on organized crime and corruption \u2014&nbsp;<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ecuador-villavicencio-presidential-candidate-killed-b96514186b71e1dfad41f0206e15b966\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fernado Villavicencio<\/a><\/span>&nbsp;\u2014 was fatally shot at the end of an Aug. 9 campaign rally. He had accused the Ecuadorian Los Choneros gang and its imprisoned leader, whom he linked to Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa cartel, of threatening him and his campaign team days before the assassination.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to its proximity to cocaine production, cartels from Mexico, Colombia and the Balkans have settled in Ecuador because it uses the U.S. dollar and has weak laws and institutions, along with a network of long-established gangs like Los Choneros that are eager for work.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities say Ecuador also gained prominence in the global cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia last decade. Coca bush fields in Colombia have been moving closer to the border with Ecuador due to the breakup of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better-known by their Spanish acronym FARC.<\/p>\n<p>A record 2,304 metric tons of cocaine was manufactured in 2021 around the world, mostly in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. That year, nearly a third of the cocaine seized by customs authorities in Western and Central Europe came from Ecuador, double the amount reported in 2018, according to a United Nations report citing data from the World Customs Organization. Large drug busts have become more frequent and within the past month, European authorities have made record-setting busts after inspecting containers carrying bananas from Ecuador.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities on Aug. 25 announced Spain\u2019s biggest cocaine haul yet: 9.5 metric tons hidden among cardboard boxes of bananas from Ecuador in a refrigerated container. Dutch officials also made their country\u2019s largest-ever cocaine seizure last month \u2014 nearly 8 metric tons \u2014 in a container of Ecuadorian bananas. Authorities in Greece and Italy also announced seizures of cocaine hidden in Ecuadorian bananas this year.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/43e6219\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/8394x5471+0+0\/resize\/1600x1042!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fcf%2Fde%2F27ffc2bf50aac241f667e9b149ff%2F6b54cc2137c34b64a25a72b87445c14e\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1042\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A farm worker cuts recently harvested bananas at a farm in Los Rios, Ecuador, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. Ecuador\u2019s humid tropical climate allows plantations to harvest bananas year-round and provide about 30% of the world\u2019s supply. (AP Photo\/Martin Mejia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"SovrnAd Advertisement sovrn-story-feed proper-dynamic-insertion\" data-module=\"\">\n<div class=\"proper-ad-unit\">\n<p>Bananas headed to Europe are boxed at plantations, loaded into trucks that take them to massive warehouses in and around Guayaquil and transferred to maritime containers driven to an area port.<\/p>\n<p>Then the ships head northeast to the Panama Canal, cross to the Caribbean Sea, and go east across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n<p>Knowingly or not, banana growers, exporters, shipping corporations, port operators, private security companies, customs agents, agriculture officials, police, and buyers offer opportunities that drug traffickers have exploited.<\/p>\n<p>Some traffickers have created front companies to mimic legitimate banana exporters, while others have acquired legitimate businesses, including plantations. They have found companies willing to be complicit in trafficking. They also have paid off, threatened or kidnapped truck drivers and other workers to help get cocaine into shipments.<\/p>\n<p>Other traffickers have corrupted or intimidated police, customs agents, security guards and port workers to assist with \u2014 or ignore \u2014 tampering with containers at the ports.<\/p>\n<p>Drug trafficking has contributed to the number of violent deaths in Ecuador, which doubled from 2021 to 2022, when 4,600 died, the most ever recorded in a year. The country is on track to break the annual record again, with 3,568 violent deaths tallied in the first half of 2023.<\/p>\n<p>In Guayaquil, where maritime shipping containers are part of the landscape, people live in fear these days. Pedestrians don\u2019t dare take their phones out of their pockets. Convenience stores have floor-to-ceiling metal bars that prevent customers from entering from the sidewalk. Restaurants that survived the pandemic close early.<\/p>\n<p>Along with the rise in homicides, the amount of cocaine seized at the country\u2019s ports has increased, too, reaching 77.4 metric tons last year. That is more than three times the amount seized in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>National Police Gen. Pablo Ram\u00edrez, Ecuador\u2019s national director of anti-drug investigations, attributed the change to increased smuggling, not better enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Police data also show that of last year\u2019s total, a record 47.5 metric tons of cocaine were found in shipments of bananas, even though the fruit\u2019s exports dropped 6.4% compared to 2021.<\/p>\n<p>No more than 30% of containers is currently inspected at Ecuadorian ports, a process done manually or with drug-sniffing dogs. President Guillermo Lasso\u2019s government says it wants to use scanners on entire containers. Twelve of those machines were supposed to be operating already but Ram\u00edrez said that has not happened yet.<\/p>\n<p>Ram\u00edrez said he expects all ports to have operational scanners by mid-2024. He said two ports have tested the scanners to smooth out internal procedures and train the people who will be working with the machines.<\/p>\n<p>The operator of the largest port in Guayaquil, Contecon Guayaquil S.A., turned down Associated Press requests for an interview and access to the port to see existing security procedures. In response to written questions about the measures, spokeswoman Alexandra Pacheco said in a statement that the operator entered into an agreement with the National Police in 2022 to among other things \u201creinforce operations in the port.\u201d She added that the operator plans to spend about $15 million on the scanners.<\/p>\n<p>Jose Hidalgo, executive director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador, said the industry faces greater exposure to trafficking than other commodity exports because of the volume of containers that it uses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is because of bananas that there are so many ports,\u201d Hidalgo said. \u201cIt opens routes to other export products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He explained that exporters spend about $100 million annually on security measures, which include surveillance cameras at plantations, GPS monitoring of trucks and the identification of land routes that require police patrols to keep criminals away.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, some exporters have been accused of being complicit or directly involved in trafficking cocaine. The organization behind the record-setting cocaine bust in Spain, according to that country\u2019s tax agency, operated through a banana exporting company in Machala, a city south of Guayaquil.<\/p>\n<p>Hours after this story was published Monday, agriculture and customs officials in Ecuador announced in a statement that the administration had purged a government-run banana-export database. It annulled the profiles of export companies deemed to be fake or incomplete and revoked permits of plantations covering 16,000 hectares (39,537 acres) determined to be nonexistent.<\/p>\n<p>Torres, the plantation owner, would like to see that type of troubled exporters kicked out of the industry. But there is no regulation that can be used to revoke a company\u2019s banana-exporting permission when the business is tied repeatedly to drug trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt bothers me so much,\u201d Torres said. \u201cMy people work with bananas, they don\u2019t work with drugs. It\u2019s a flagship product, the best in the world, and to see it tainted like that is unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Men walk through a lush plantation between&nbsp;Ecuador&nbsp;\u2019s balmy Pacific coast and its majestic Andes, lopping hundreds of bunches of green bananas from groaning plants twice their height. Workers haul the bunches to an assembly line, where the bananas are washed, weighed and plastered with stickers for European buyers. Owner Franklin Torres is monitoring all activity&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":8259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/23dfb0a\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1542x668+0+0\/resize\/1600x694!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fea%2Fcc%2F618f62d59617682a893321c705f5%2Fdbd937493e0b4a94a2738b6e1b84d05f","fifu_image_alt":"Security in Ecuador Has Come Undone as Drug Cartels Exploit the Banana Industry to Ship Cocaine","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8258,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8256\/revisions\/8258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}