New anti-mafia law in Ecuador: Italian advisers and ban on convicted lawyers
The National Assembly is processing criminal-law reforms with technical support from Italy and the United States to combat organised crime. Ecuador recorded 2025 as the most violent year in its history.
Criminal reforms in Ecuador seek to dismantle criminal networks using Italian anti-mafia model
The National Assembly of Ecuador is processing a package of legal reforms aimed at strengthening the State's response to criminal organisations, according to lasillarota.com. The proposal modifies three existing laws and has the direct technical backing of Italian specialists with experience combating European mafia structures.
Italy's formal support for the Ecuadorian administration began two years ago as part of a strategy to contain criminal violence. Washington also backs the initiatives through its Office of Antinarcotics Affairs in the region. Representatives from the ministries of Interior and Defence, along with international diplomats, were present at the presentation of the reform package.
Ban on lawyers and stricter requirements for judges
Among the central measures of the project is the prohibition on practising law for people convicted of money laundering or links with organised crime. In addition, judges who decide to deny preventive detention for suspects of terrorism or contract killing must justify their ruling rigorously. The rule aims to eliminate cases where criminals regain their freedom hours after being detained.
The plan also seeks to weaken the economy of criminal groups and improve protection mechanisms for citizens. Judicial authorities will receive stricter tools to prosecute members of transnational criminal networks.
The context: the most violent year in history
Ecuador maintains a declaration of internal armed conflict in response to the historic increase in intentional homicides. The year 2025 has become the period with the highest number of violent deaths recorded in the country's history. This reality drives the government to seek external alliances to restructure its criminal legislation.
Territorial disputes between local groups partly explain the escalation. Gangs such as Los Choneros operate linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, whilst Los Lobos coordinate with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Both factions introduced methods of extreme violence that include bomb attacks and massacres in prison centres.
Mexican cartels and transnational networks
The Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG today act as factors of political and social destabilisation in South America, taking advantage of weak borders to expand illegal operations. The Sinaloa Cartel maintains links with Colombian dissident groups, whilst the CJNG coordinates river and maritime routes with Brazil's Primeiro Comando da Capital. These logistical connections facilitate the movement of illicit cargo to ports in Europe and the United States.
Mafias are not limited to drug trafficking: they also coordinate money-laundering cells, arms trafficking and systematic extortion against businesses throughout the region. This diversification gives them territorial control that complicates the work of police containment efforts.
Fragmentation of leadership and cycles of violence
An additional factor in criminal dynamics is the fragmentation of command structures following operations against kingpins. The fall of leaders generates immediate power vacuums within urban structures, triggering internal wars that perpetuate cycles of homicides and prevent stabilisation of affected communities.
The authorities acknowledge that measures based solely on military presence are insufficient. The success of state plans depends, according to the analysis accompanying the legislative proposal, on comprehensive reforms that directly attack the economic structure of transnational networks and multilateral cooperation agreements to dismantle their financing.
Source: Google News EC — Crime