Ecuador militarizes drug-ridden border town with Peru
The South American country, strategically positioned in the eastern Pacific, is the transit point for 70% of the cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru, the world's largest producers of the drug.
Ecuador Police
(AFP) Ecuador on Thursday militarized a port town considered a center for drug shipments and mafia operations that extort money from fishermen in the province of El Oro, bordering Peru, informed the Minister of Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo.
The deployment of the Armed Forces in the streets is part of the tough-on-crime policy implemented by the government of President Daniel Noboa.
In helicopters and boats, some 1,000 military and 300 police were distributed in Puerto Bolivar (southwest) in the middle of a night curfew that is in force in nine provinces, including El Oro.
Some "1,600 houses will be raided in the course of the next three days," said Loffredo in a video shared by the Defense Ministry.
He added that "the objective of this operation is to completely control the territory" and "recover Puerto Bolivar," a town where a port terminal of the same name operates.
World
Ecuador launches nationwide offensive against drug trafficking with U.S. support
Sabrina Martin
Puerto Bolivar: Center of dispute between criminal groups
Puerto Bolivar is a center of dispute between criminal groups dedicated to shipping drugs to North America and Europe. Decapitated bodies, armed attacks and explosions have been reported in this troubled area.
"Here we have people who are trying to control the port for drug shipments. We have boats that also go out to extort fishermen. There is a very complex illegal economy here," Loffredo explained.
70% of the region's cocaine flows through Ecuador
Strategically positioned on the eastern Pacific, Ecuador is the transit point for 70% of the cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru, the world's largest producers of the drug.
LATEST
