In the Galapagos Islands and its surroundings, drug trafficking and fuel trafficking activities converge. In an interview with PRIMICIAS, the Anti-Narcotics Director, General Pablo Ramírez, admits this.
A semi-submersible with two tons of cocaine was captured south of the Galapagos on December 21.
The Galapagos Islands are vulnerable to criminal activities due to their large size and the limitations of the Police and the Navy , says the Anti-Narcotics Director, General Pablo Ramírez.
Several international intelligence agencies estimate that part of the fuel that feeds boats that transport cocaine from the Ecuadorian coast leaves the islands, which the gangsters call the “Pacific gas station.“
The drug traffickers laid out routes that pass through the Galapagos on their way to the United States.
Ecuadorian micro -cartels not only control micro-trafficking, but have ventured into trafficking on a large scale, according to intelligence reports.
Galapagos, the gas station
Days before Christmas, two judges from a court in Manabí acquitted 18 people involved in the trafficking of 20 tons of cocaine to the United States. How do law enforcement see this?
These rulings generate a perception of impunity and that, in duly proven crimes, proportional sanctions and sentences are not applied to those responsible.
It greatly affects us not only in the investigation of drug trafficking, but of other crimes such as embezzlement, extortion, and illicit enrichment.
In this case, known as ‘Pangas Locas’, a pattern was established: ships that left Manabí with cocaine were supplied on the high seas, following routes near the Galapagos Islands.
Exactly. They did it through boats that carried out tuna fishing operations. In this way it was found that some 20 tons were transferred, in a year and a half, to the United States.
The case was prosecuted, all the elements of conviction, the relationships and various indications were found. However, the judges did not determine the corresponding judicial responsibilities, according to the degree of participation that the 18 members of the organization had.
Is this supply scheme recurring on the route that goes through the Galapagos?
We have determined that this strip, between the Ecuadorian territorial sea and the open sea (international waters), is used for the entry and exit of ships.
The great extension of this maritime space, which surrounds the Galapagos, makes it difficult for the Navy to control, which we are trying to correct with the constant cooperation of other countries, such as the United States and Colombia. For this reason, interdictions have been carried out on the high seas, but it is impossible to have total control.
Do drug traffickers border the Galapagos Islands or cross them to evade controls?
They border several islands, there is no specific pattern. Depending on how drug traffickers observe the surveillance of the Navy and other national and international forces, they divert and take other routes, or evade controls.
According to international intelligence agencies, the ships that transport drugs receive fuel that leaves the Galapagos. Are they supply networks that include fishermen?
It is most likely, if those ships do not arrive at a port to be supplied, it is most likely that they will be supplied on the high seas.
In January 2022, a Cessna plane landed without permission, it would have entered with cocaine and then it was abandoned at the Isabela Island airport. It is true?
Of course, this case is under investigation because the plane was in police custody.
The plane was seized for two months and then it disappeared, it was stolen. Is it an indication that more illegal planes are arriving in the Galapagos?
That’s right, but the overflights of these aircraft are not only detected in the Galapagos, but in the coastal profile of Manabí, in Montecristi, where one of them even crashed and, according to inhabitants of the sector, there is a constant passage of small planes.
What happens in Galapagos? Near the islands, eight sailors who stole five kilos of cocaine were arrested and released.
Yes, those captured were placed under the orders of the competent authority and a tax instruction was opened.
Have you suggested any measure to avoid and prevent sailors from being recruited by organized crime?
Each institution generates methods and procedures for the control of its officials.
I think that the Police is one of the few institutions that places the same police officers under the orders of the competent authority, it is up to each entity to activate units such as internal affairs, which the Police have, and put these people in evidence, since they take advantage of their positions to commit crimes.
Not only the Armed Forces, but also Customs will be incorporated into the monitoring centers, when the new scanners are already in operation since July 31, which will be in each of the ports, according to the extension of the Presidency.
Is the Police providing support to carry out confidence tests in the Armed Forces and Customs?
No, not the Armed Forces. But we have received the request from Customs to carry out profiles, with polygraph tests, of those who will be in this coordination with the Police in the inspection of the images from the scanners in the ports.
Galapagos is already known as the ‘gas station of the Pacific’. This logistics is also a practice in Esmeraldas, where the subsidized gasoline received by fishermen is diverted to process cocaine in Colombia.
It occurs in various provinces, especially in Esmeraldas; but the one who manages these data with greater precision is the Ministry of Energy, which controls the sale of fuel and could detect cases of excessive fuel consumption (an indicator that it is being diverted, ndr).
There was a capture of a submersible with two tons of cocaine on December 22, south of the Galapagos. What is your reading?
The gangs or structures dedicated to drug trafficking use many alternatives. They not only take out the drug in contaminated freighters or boats and small planes; They also use drones or unmanned aircraft.
The disadvantage we have is the lack of financial resources, something that organizations and cartels have in large numbers.
Record seizures
What happened in 2022 with the seizures?
195.3 tons of drugs were seized, while in 2021 200 tons were seized. This is not yet a consolidated figure.
12,573 people were also arrested and 212 organized criminal groups were dismantled, and 997 firearms, more than 65,000 cartridges and USD 7.8 million in cash were seized.
In addition, we retained 70 tons of chemicals, liquid and solid. It is important to note that seizures at ports and airports increased.
In 2020 we reached 23 tons, in 2021 54, and in 2022 76 tons. In other words, in relation to 2020, we have increased 40% of seizures and effectiveness.
These captures not only prove greater effectiveness, but also a weakness in the control on the roads where trucks with chemical precursors and drugs enter and circulate, until they reach the ports. How do you plan to improve controls?
By 2023 we have a road interdiction plan, with the help of technology that will be much more effective, to detect vehicles before they enter the collection centers in Manabí, Guayas and Guayaquil.
We are carrying out a strong planning, organization and execution of the highway interdiction program, which will allow us to capture the shipments before they reach their destinations.
In addition, we work to identify and arrest all members of the structures, both micro-trafficking and international drug trafficking.
Why doesn’t the interdiction start at the border with Colombia? Much of the drug comes from Colombia through the Pan-American highway, and many weapons enter from the border with Peru.
This is very important. That is why, through the Government, a closer cooperation between the Police and the Armed Forces has been established in the fight against drug trafficking, the trafficking of arms, explosives, chemicals, smuggling on the border with Colombia and Peru, with the cooperation from both countries. We have strengthened international cooperation.
Will they have technology, for example, for surveillance?
Yes, but I can’t give details for security. We are going to incorporate technology for highway interdiction, to prevent drugs from entering cities and the aforementioned collection centers.
We understand that the Armed Forces foresee the incorporation of certain technology, drones and radars, in their modernization plan, to be more effective in interdiction by sea and air.
Of the 195 tons seized, how much is cocaine?
There are 173 tons of cocaine hydrochloride, 5.5 tons of base paste, 16.5 tons of marijuana and 352 kilos of heroin.
What is happening with micro-drug trafficking in Ecuador?
It is important to say that micro-trafficking for internal consumption decreased. In 2020, 11.5 tons were seized, in 2021, there were 10.2 tons and in 2022 there are 9.3 tons.
How do you know they are for internal consumption?
When the seized drug is divided into small doses, when it does not have a logo that makes it possible to establish which cartel or trafficker it belongs to. The highest incidence is of marijuana, base paste and H, for internal consumption.
To stop micro-trafficking, we will work on two axes: a zoning plan for the places where there is the greatest sale, through mathematical management indicators, to act based on data.
We will start a pilot plan in Guayaquil, in the most conflictive and violent districts of the city.
There are also micro-trafficking problems in the cities of Esmeraldas, Machala, Santo Domingo, Portoviejo and Manta.
In addition, we will implement the highway interdiction plan, as I already said.
Is the trend of greater cocaine output to European countries from the ports of Guayaquil continuing?
Yes, the main destinations are Europe and the United States. 45% of the seizures went, in this order, to Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain.
Of the 76 tons seized in ports, 20% went to Belgium, 11% to the Netherlands, 4% to Mexico, 4% to Spain and 3% to Sweden.
Can you discriminate and say how many drugs went to which countries, of the total that was seized?
Almost 45% was destined for Europe; Belgium is the country with the greatest interference, 35 tons were seized that were going to that country and another 22 to the Netherlands, from the ports of Guayaquil.
While eight tons were captured that were bound for Mexico and the United States, which leave through Manabí and Esmeraldas, in speedboats.
How is counternarcotics cooperation with those countries going?
We have three strategic partners. On the one hand, the United States and on the other the United Kingdom, that allows us to strengthen the pact, through the European Union.
Two weeks ago, an important delegation from the Netherlands and Belgium was in Ecuador, to specify cooperation programs for the exchange of information on shipments, to dismantle criminal structures in destination countries, especially in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
Control of foreigners of Albanian nationality, who will not be able to enter without a visa , is also being incorporated into this trend in recent years .
Posters in Ecuador
What is your reading on the operating dynamics of the Mexican and Balkan cartels in Ecuador?
We have a hypothesis that is being confirmed. Criminal structures in Ecuador are turning into micro-cartels, because they no longer only seek to provide security to the big cartels, but to appropriate transportation, security, collection and micro-trafficking.
They also try to dabble in the international drug trade. For this reason, within these investigative lines we have seen people of Albanian or Balkan nationality , who have carried out various actions but through the façade of exporting companies.
In this way, they generate illegal activities, which is why it is important to establish not only a line of control for the Police, but also for all governmental, state, non-state, and non-governmental organizations, we have to unite to counteract this evil.
What have you found out about the Albanian mafias?
We have seen that they easily entered under a facade, to create illegal import and export companies.
It is a fairly closed clan, they have been carrying out criminal activities for several decades in Europe and then they came to our country.
Going back to the local gangs, the biggest ones ( Choneros and Los Lobos ) are already micro-cartels because they handle complete purchase and delivery lines?
Exactly, they try to make independent lines of international traffic. That is why we see these armed conflicts and this violence between criminal structures.
Unfortunately, deaths occur due to control, not only of the micro-trafficking territory, but also control of the territory through which they try to get drugs abroad.
What are the bands or groups that would be in that mutation space towards microcartels?
There are several that and are known in the criminal space. We would not want to individualize them so as not to give them prominence.
We have important information that will allow us to effectively dismantle these structures, not only looking for those who are found with the controlled substance, but also the entire structure, with its established roles and functions.
We are talking about the leaders, those who provide security, transportation, collection sites, micro-trafficking, traffic and, obviously, the destination as well. We want to break the national and international structures.
Are these organizations already buying cocaine at the Colombian border to take it abroad?
That’s what we believe. That is why this unusual violence has been unleashed, which leaves us with the deaths of innocent people, some are even children, teachers who have been around the people that they (the criminals, ndr) have as their objective or target.
