Preventive prison for 36 detainees in Ecuador over links to CJNG
Ecuadorian justice ordered preventive prison for 36 people captured in joint operation with the United States and the DEA for links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
36 detainees in Ecuador remanded in preventive prison following operation against network linked to CJNG
Ecuadorian justice ordered preventive prison on Friday for 36 people arrested on Thursday during a police operation coordinated with the United States. According to infobae.com, Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed that the operation dismantled a gang allegedly linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), of Mexican origin.
The General Prosecutor's Office stated that the 36 accused face charges for alleged organised crime for the purposes of drug trafficking. The arrests took place in the provinces of Guayas, Manabí, El Oro and Los Ríos, in cities such as Guayaquil, Daule, Samborondón, Ventanas, Babahoyo, Puebloviejo, Vinces and Machala.
The Public Ministry indicated that "it is presumed that the leaders of this structure would have links with a faction of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel", and specified that the investigation—initiated in early 2026—points to an organisation dedicated to sending drugs by contaminating containers. The main destinations for the alkaloid would be the United States and Europe.
The operation involved more than 320 members of Ecuador's National Police and 50 members of the United States Southern Command, together with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Reimberg emphasised that the dismantled organisation "has no links with local gangs" and maintained "direct relations with the CJNG".
The structure was dedicated to the accumulation, intermediation, distribution, transport and commercialisation of large volumes of drugs from Colombia, with the intention of dispatching it by sea from the ports of Guayaquil and Machala to Central America, the United States and Europe, the official detailed.
Ecuador, surrounded by Colombia and Peru—the world's two largest cocaine producers—has several ports on its coasts and a dollarised economy, factors that have made it in recent years a key route for drug trafficking destined for Europe and North America.
The country has been living since 2024 under a state of "internal armed conflict" declared by President Daniel Noboa to intensify the fight against criminal gangs, which he described as "terrorists". Despite that declaration, 2025 ended with a record number of homicides: around 9,300, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
Source: Google News EC — Crime