Around 500 people in the export sector have been victims of crime so far in 2023. Of these, 20 have died.
Referential image of the Simón Bolívar Port, in Guayaquil.
Robberies, assaults, extortion, kidnappings are part of the criminal acts that more and more exporters must face, especially those who operate on the Ecuadorian coast.
On Thursday, August 10, around midnight, two trucks carrying 70 kilos of shrimp feed were stolen by a gang that was traveling on motorcycles, at kilometer 26 of the Durán-Tambo highway, Guayas province.
The drivers were kidnapped and almost six hours later they were found alive, along with the heads of the trucks, says José Antonio Camposano, executive president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture.
“Some gangs have sufficient logistics and even use forklifts to lift the pallets of food bags and steal them, they don’t do it by hand,” explains Camposano.
The shrimp sector alone has recorded 61 crime-related incidents, from robberies to kidnappings, between January and August 2023.
These events have left 44 injured and two dead, according to statistics from the Security Directorate of the National Chamber of Aquaculture.
There are 20 fatalities.
According to the Corporation of Exporting Guilds of Ecuador (Cordex), nearly 500 people linked to the export sector have been victims of insecurity in the last 12 months, that is, between July 2022 and July 2023.
Of that number of victims, at least 20 died as a result of criminal acts, says Camposano, who also chairs the Cordex Board of Directors.
The executive director of the Association of Banana Exporters (Acorbanec), Richard Salazar, says that, despite the states of emergency, producers, exporters, workers and suppliers, such as cartoneras, continue to be victims of insecurity.
“This is seriously affecting the productive sector and the normal development of the activity. The lives of our employees are at risk,” laments Salazar. The areas with the highest alerts for this sector are in Los Ríos and Guayas.
According to Cordex, the economic damage from robberies and other criminal acts exceeds USD 4 million so far this year.
Security spending on the rise.
With the worsening of insecurity, the export sector increasingly allocates more resources to security measures, including the traceability of products to prevent drug contamination of cargo.
The Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) estimates that the export sector, together with its value chain, invests USD 1 million per day in security measures such as surveillance technologies, monitoring and data analysis to anticipate and respond to possible threats.
In 2022, spending on security measures was close to USD 400,000 per day.
Rosero details that before, most of the spending was allocated to the traceability of the product with satellite tracking, custody of the cargo and security seal on the containers.
“This year, it has become transversal . It is not only cargo, but it encompasses the integrity of the physical infrastructure of the production plants and the personnel”, he explains.
Among the actions that the companies have implemented are modifying the protocols for the entry and exit of personnel, reinforcing security around the production plants and offering transportation to employees at certain times.
According to Fedexpor, companies have also increased spending on insurance , to protect themselves against risks and damages caused by crime.
Banana, the most vulnerable
The banana sector is one of the most vulnerable to cocaine contamination of cargo.
The traceability or monitoring of the cargo represents an expense close to USD 200 per-container, says Richard Salazar, executive director of the Banana Exporters Association (Acorbanec).
And the cost of the inspections carried out by the Anti-Narcotics Police is USD 150 per container.
Salazar says that about 40% of the 7,000 containers that the banana sector exports a week are inspected. With this, the cost of inspections amounts to USD 420,000 per week for the banana sector.
Companies must also incur expenses for specialized legal advice for representation in legal proceedings, in the event of drug contamination in the cargo, says Felipe Ribadeneira, president of Fedexpor, in a union statement.
In addition to bananas and shrimp, other export sectors susceptible to insecurity are cocoa, lumber, and floriculture.
As an alternative to mitigate the economic impact of insecurity, Cordex asks the Government for double deductibility for all expenses related to private security for purposes of paying Income Tax.
