Ecuador police crackdown on drug trafficking

In early July, authorities reported coordinated police operations in Ecuador and Argentina aimed at dismantling fake‑officer networks and drug‑trafficking activities. By the end of the month, the focus shifted to Ecuador alone, where Police Captain Jean Carlos Bustamante led a specially selected unit against heavily armed gangs linked to Mexican cartels and Albanian mafias. The later report highlighted systemic corruption, the country's growing role as a transit hub for cocaine destined for Europe and the United States, and ongoing challenges such as limited court success for arrests and the recruitment of minors.

The evolution shows an initial broad regional response that narrowed into a more detailed, city‑level campaign in Durán, Ecuador, emphasizing both tactical gains (seizures of weapons) and the broader strategic struggle to curb the nation’s expanding involvement in the international drug trade.