Operation Apollo 29 in Guayaquil: 200 kilos of drugs in luxury building in Guasmo Sur
Police found more than 200 kilos of drugs in a five-storey building with a swimming pool in Guasmo Sur. The operation resulted in 20 arrests and 18 firearms seized.
Drugs hidden behind luxury facade in Guasmo Sur
A five-storey building with a swimming pool on the terrace, barbecue area and high-cost finishes concealed a shipment of more than 200 kilos of drugs in the heart of Guasmo Sur. According to expreso.ec, the discovery was made during Operation Apollo 29, carried out by the National Police in various sectors of Guayaquil and Durán.
The building, which houses eight apartments, stands in contrast to the smaller dwellings in the surrounding area. To enter, officers had to force reinforced security doors. Inside they found six people who were present in the property at the time of the raid.
Search for ringleader alias "R"
One of the main objectives of the operation was a man known as alias R, identified by police as a leader of the Mafia 18 organisation and responsible for providing logistics to the group in sectors such as Guasmo. He was not located during the raids.
"We continue searching for leaders of criminal structures. Today we were after alias R, one of the leaders of this Mafia 18 group, which is the one that provides the logistics," declared General Commander of Police Pablo Dávila.
Authorities are investigating whether the property, in addition to serving as a drug storage point, was used to plan criminal activities.
Scale of the operation: 300 officers and 16 hours of deployment
Operation Apollo 29 comprised 100 raids and lasted more than 16 hours, with the participation of approximately 300 police officers. In total, 20 people were arrested—17 men and three women—and another six were detained for investigation. Several of those arrested have records for theft, handling stolen goods, drug trafficking and weapons possession.
Among the seized material were 18 firearms, 92 rounds of ammunition, seven magazines, 104 blocks and 381 doses of controlled substances, as well as 51 sheets of alkaloids. Ten vehicles, 17 motorcycles and four tricycles were also seized.
Operations in other sectors and links to Los Lobos
The raids extended to other areas of the city. In the suburbs, officers raided a residence allegedly used for drug sales. In Pascuales, a man allegedly linked to the Los Lobos organisation was arrested; the individual was carrying a firearm and ammunition.
Citizen reports facilitated the operation
Dávila stated that the investigation was not based solely on police intelligence. Residents of the sector had reported unusual movements around the building—the constant entry and exit of unknown persons and the accelerated pace of construction—through the reporting system via QR code. This information was cross-referenced with data from the Police's investigative and intelligence subsystem, which allowed them to proceed with the raids.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil