Ecuador arrests 26 in international drug trafficking bust

QUITO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's National Police dismantled an international drug trafficking network linked to the Albanian mafia and its local arm "Los Lagartos," arresting 26 suspects, Interior Minister John Reimberg said Thursday.

Ecuadorian police conducted 20 raids across several provinces in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and European security agencies, seizing 5 high-end vehicles and heavy cargo used to transport the alkaloid, the minister posted on social media.

Reimberg estimated the operation dealt an economic blow of more than 68 million U.S. dollars to the drug trafficking network.

The group used legitimate commercial activities involving gold concentrate and banana exports as a cover to smuggle drugs through containers at the Ecuadorian ports of Guayaquil and Posorja, in the southwest of the country, said the minister.

The drugs, hidden among the products or in secret compartments within the containers, were shipped to Europe via routes that included Canadian ports such as Montreal, with investigators identifying the final destinations as the Netherlands and Russia as key markets for the criminal network.

According to Reimberg, the operation was the latest result of a nearly 20-month investigation that began after authorities seized 1.1 tons of drugs in 2024. During the probe, police carried out five operations, seizing a total of 2.5 tons of cocaine. ■