EU, Ecuador Bust Drug Cartel Linked to European Port Infiltration
Law enforcement authorities in Ecuador and Europe are hailing the success of coordinated international operations designed to dismantle a major drug trafficking cartel that has been using European ports to smuggle cocaine.
Europol announced that since January last year, authorities have been closely tracking the operations of the Ecuadorian ‘Los Lobos’ cartel that has been using European ports to traffic cocaine to the lucrative market.
Sanctioned by the U.S in 2024, Los Lobos and its leader Wilmer Geovanny Chavarria Barre (“Pipo”) has emerged as Ecuador’s largest drug trafficking organization. With members numbering in their thousands, the criminal organization significantly contributes to the violence gripping Ecuador.
The cartel is also responsible for turning the South America nation to a transit country for drugs originating from Colombia and Peru that enter Ecuador before being trafficked to the U.S, Europe and other international markets.
For more than a year, authorities from Ecuador, Belgium and the Netherlands - supported by Europol and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration - have been carrying out joint operations to dismantle Los Lobos activities, resulting in the seizure of around four tonnes of cocaine, the arrest of 16 suspects and the disruption of a money laundering and corruption scheme. Authorities also seized four handguns, two rifles, $810,000 in cash and several vehicles.
Europol says the cartel has been responsible for the large-scale trafficking of cocaine to Europe, a trade that it has been running using fruit-exporting companies as cover for their illicit activities.
“The drugs were concealed within legitimate export cargo, particularly refrigerated fruit containers, and strategically positioned within other shipments to evade detection,” said Europol in a statement.
Over the course of the operations, authorities were able to intercept and seize major drug consignments in Dutch ports that had come from Ecuadorian seaports. In February last year, a consignment of about 2,600 kilos of cocaine was seized at Vlissingen with another 1,100 kilos seized in Rotterdam in June.
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According to the investigations, the Ecuadorian cartel has been cooperating with an Albanian drug trafficking organization whose members travel to Ecuador to negotiate deals and secure large-scale shipments. Authorities say that once the cocaine entered Europe, the shipments were quickly split up, transported inland, and distributed across multiple countries.
U.S. special forces units are currently operating within Ecuador on train-and-assist missions aimed at dismantling smuggling cartels, according to the New York Times. The Ecuadorian government has announced a "new phase" in its campaign against drug groups, and U.S. Southern Command confirms that it is taking "decisive action" in cooperation with Ecuadorian partners.
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