A woman commanded an operation of Mexican cartels in Ecuador

Ecuadornews:

The operation was called Sinaloa, and revealed the presence of an important narco-criminal arm of Mexican cartels in the country. It was an organization made up of one Colombian and 11 Mexicans.

All had specific functions. One was the one who financed the operations. Others were in charge of looking for how to disguise the drug to send it to the United States and a third group dealt with the transfer part. The organization also had a member who monitored the security of shipments and detected if there was information leakage. All were commanded by a woman, who was the ‘logistics coordinator’ Police intelligence data indicates that she was sent by the “cartel” to verify the operations. Her last delivery was planned for July. They were 101 kilos of cocaine, but the police stopped them and seized the alkaloid. That was one of the last organizations of disarticulated Mexicans nationwide. But it was not the only one. Anti-narcotics reports indicate that in the last three years 55 Mexicans have been captured for drug trafficking. The shipments they sent went mainly to Central America and the United States. 

The operations of the Mexican mafias have been analyzed by the Attorneys  of that country. In its latest report, published eight days ago, the agency reveals that in Ecuador there is a presence of four Mexican cartels that handle the global drug market. In that group are Los Zetas, the Michoacán Family, the Gulf and Sinaloa. According to the document, this last mafia is the most powerful, although its leader, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, is detained in the United States.

The general commander of the Police, Ramiro Mantilla, spoke with the newspaper EL COMERCIO and said he did not agree with the report. Ensures that in Ecuador there is no presence of the Mexican cartels. For him, this would mean that there are armed groups and that drugs are produced. “We are not a producer, we are used to collect and send shipments,” he said. Anti-narcotics and Intelligence agents, who have studied the drug trafficking business in the country, give more clues. They qualify the presence of Mexicans and assure that they are only ’emissaries’. The investigators warn that the cartels send these people to supervise the shipments. They also come to recruit Ecuadorians or people of other nationalities to send drugs.

Pablo Aguirre, director of Anti-narcotics, says that the idea is to form logistical networks. “They are responsible for the collection and delivery” In addition, Intelligence has detected that cells of the cartels arrive in the country temporarily. In this way they save money, they take care of the sending process from the beginning and something fundamental: they avoid that the information of their routes leaks to the Police or to other networks.

On Friday, an intelligence agent met with this newspaper and indicated that the ’emissaries’ usually enter via land or river from Colombia. Thus, they prevent a migration report. For example, in July 2017 the Navy – in coordination with the police – detained six people on the high seas.

They transported 700 kilos of cocaine in boats that were located in the Galapagos. In total there were six detainees, one of them Mexican. In that case, the registration of his entry into the country was not found. That is why he does not rule out having entered Colombia, in the company of other suspects. For the Ecuadorian authorities it is difficult to know which cartel the foreigners are.

“When they are captured they do not give any kind of information, they take great care,” said the agent. However, researchers usually analyze, depending on the cargo, to identify which mafia it belonged. That happened in February 2015 with seven Mexicans captured in Quinindé, Esmeraldas. According to intelligence investigators, foreigners arrived in the country to guard the shipment of half a ton of cocaine in a plane. In that case, it was determined that they belonged to the Sinaloa cartel.

Anti-narcotics data reveal that Mexican narco-licit organizations have intensified their operations in the last year. At least 5.6 of the 80 tons confiscated so far this year went to Mexico. For that reason, the commander of the Police indicated that the fluvial control in Esmeraldas and Manabí was reinforced, since from there the cargos leave. The same happens in the port of Guayaquil. Antinarcotics tracks that the containers are not contaminated by the narcos. This is a usual practice of the cartels. (I)

Source: http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/mujer-comanda-carteles-mexicanos-ecuador.html