Ecuador seizes 1.7 tonnes of cocaine in massive container bust

Ecuadorian authorities intercepted a truck carrying a fruit container bound for Denmark and uncovered 1,800 blocks of cocaine, about 1.7 tonnes, valued at roughly $54 million. Four suspects were detained and three vehicles and six phones seized. The same security bloc later captured an estimated 2.5 tonnes of illicit substances on the high seas, arresting six Ecuadorian nationals and confiscating 73 drums of narcotics.

In the province of Los Ríos, the Ecuadorian army dismantled a micro‑trafficking hub in Baba, arresting three people and seizing 79 packages of white powder, 20 g of cocaine and additional material. Separate operations across the region also yielded large drug seizures: Portugal’s GNR seized 3,130 kg of cocaine off the Algarve coast, Argentina’s gendarmerie confiscated five kilos of coca leaves and 2,300 foreign‑origin bicarbonate packets, Chile’s Carabineros broke up a marijuana storage site in Punitaqui with more than 164 kg seized, and Bolivia’s FELCN intercepted 508 marijuana packets on the Oruro‑Uyuni highway. Mexico police in Tehuacán detained three men and seized 32 doses of a meth‑type substance. These coordinated busts reflect an intensified crackdown on narcotics trafficking throughout South America and adjacent regions.