Ecuador Navy dismantles nine illegal mining camps in border province of Esmeraldas

On July 25, 2026, the Ecuadorian Navy carried out a coordinated operation in the border province of Esmeraldas, destroying nine sites used for illegal gold mining. In the municipality of San Lorenzo, six camps were raided, ten excavators, three motor‑pumps, a generator were disabled and a homemade shotgun was seized. In the neighboring municipality of Eloy Alfaro, three additional camps were eliminated, along with five excavators, two pumps, a generator and a classification machine.

The action is part of a permanent campaign by the Armed Forces to curb illicit mining that deforests protected areas and contaminates rivers with mercury. The intensified crackdown follows a May 2025 ambush that killed eleven soldiers, an attack attributed to dissident FARC border groups linked to the local criminal gang Los Lobos.