Foundation says they have nothing to do with the drug found in the bust

Marco Albuja (i) on Tuesday joined President Correa in Guayaquil

Carlos Bravomalo, President of the Ecuadorian Foundation for art and culture, said the anti-narcotics police and prosecutors arrived yesterday to the workshops where the busts of the former President Eloy Alfaro were made to continue with the investigation of the discovery of drug particles in one of these sculptures.

This Foundation was hired in October of last year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the production of 150 sculptures as part of a civic project in commemoration of the 100 years of the “Hoguera Barbara”.

According to Bravomalo, in January, the Foundation deliver to the direction of culture of the Foreign Ministry the first 50 busts that were transferred to “a room” in which they remained for around six days.

“There are people who want to discredit this Government by putting drug. We deliver the sculptures  a  month and a half ago. Unfortunately in the Chancellery they were put there… in an office where any number of people came and went; and the person who wants to discredit us was there,”said Bravomalo.

For his part, the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, said on Tuesday, during a discussion with the press in Guayaquil, that there are very specific clues will lead to the origin of the crime, so  it blows into a major scandal to make the country and the government look bad.

Today Correa along with several Ministers, including the Minister of Interior, José Serrano, and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Marco Albuja, plans to hold an meeting of the Security Council where this topic would be addressed.