Presidential candidates in Ecuador are pledging to use the military to crack down on drug exports from the country's ports, where over half of banana shipments flagged as suspicious and searched by authorities hide packages of cocaine.
Cocaine is also increasingly found in shipments of tuna, as well as hidden in hollowed-out pineapples and stashed amid sugar, police say.Police have seized some 50 tonnes of drugs so far this year at the country's two principal ports.The two presidential candidates in the upcoming Oct. 15 election - business heir Daniel Noboa and leftist Luisa Gonzalez - have said something needs to be done. Both have promised to militarize ports and airports to fight the drug trafficking.
Scanners installed by the government at seven ports and airports in Quito and Guayaquil are set to begin working in November. Lasso also agreed to hold joint anti-drug operations with the U.S. Coast Guard, but the deal must be ratified by Ecuador's congress.The banana exporters' association says it spends nearly $100 million a year on security equipment and inspections of about 40% of shipments.
The percentage of searched banana shipments which contained cocaine has fallen this year, but it is still very high - at 57% in 2023, from 70% in 2022, according to police figures. Police estimate that about 70% of smuggled cocaine is introduced into banana shipments either at farms or during transport to ports, but traffickers also sometimes add drugs to sealed or refrigerated containers at the ports or once boats are at sea, Ramirez said.
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