8.8 tonnes of cocaine seized in Ecuador bound for Belgium

BET À DAY

Ecuador seized approximately 8.8 tonnes of cocaine concealed between bananas in a container bound for Belgium at the port of Guayaquil, police said on Sunday. 

“Record seizure in 2023 of more than eight tons of cocaine”, wrote the police commander, General Fausto Salinas, on his Twitter account.

RECORD 2023 IN THE INCAUTACIÓN OF MÁS DE 8 TONELADAS DE COCAÍNA

Mediante técnicas de perfilamiento e investigación en contenedores en el puerto de #GYE

Evitamos el comercio internacional de 90 million dosis, valued in 330 million dólares in Europe#MásFuertesQueNunca pic.twitter.com/4U2UGhurYC

— GraD. Fausto Salinas Samaniego (@CmdtPoliciaEc) February 26, 2023

“We prevented (the international sale of) 90 million doses, worth $330 million in Europe,” he said, broadcasting a video showing police officers searching the container.

Located between Colombia and Peru – the main cocaine producers in the world – Ecuador has seized a record quantity of the drug in 2021: around 210 tons bound for European ports.

In 2022, seizures exceeded 200 tons – 61% of which were hidden among bananas destined for export . Since the beginning of 2023, they have reached 31 tons in total.