Police seize 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in Samborondón: two arrested
Police confiscated 1,512 packages of cocaine in Samborondón, Guayas, with an estimated value of 70.3 million dollars on the European market.
Seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in Samborondón leaves two captured
A police operation in Samborondón, province of Guayas, resulted in the seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine distributed in 1,512 packages, according to a report by elcomercio.com. Interior Minister John Reimberg announced this Saturday the arrest of two individuals identified as Jeremy Javier M.B. and José Javier M.M.
The drug would have an estimated value of 70.3 million dollars on the European market, according to Minister Reimberg.
The seizure in Samborondón constitutes the second operation with a confiscation exceeding one tonne in less than seven days. The previous Thursday, the Armed Forces confiscated more than 1.4 tonnes of drugs, primarily marijuana, in Sucumbíos, an Amazonian province bordering Colombia.
Ecuador occupies a strategic position for drug trafficking: it shares a border with Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest cocaine producers, has key ports such as those in Guayaquil, and operates with a dollarised economy, factors that have made it a transit route towards Europe and North America.
In 2025, the country's security forces confiscated 227.1 tonnes of drugs, mainly cocaine, a figure lower by around 67 tonnes compared to 2024, the year in which the historical record of 294.61 tonnes was registered, according to official data from the Interior Ministry.
The country has been undergoing an armed internal conflict declared by President Daniel Noboa since 2024. Despite this declaration, 2025 closed with approximately 9,300 homicides, also a record figure according to the same ministry.
Source: Google News EC — Crime