Ecuador seizes 13 tons of narcotics this year
Xinhua, February 24, 2015 Adjust font size:
The Ecuadorian authorities reported Monday that the South American country's police have seized a total of 13.29 tons of narcotics in nationwide operations so far this year, way more than the 2.53 tons seized in the same period in 2014.
In a joint press conference with the police, Ecuador's Interior Minister Jose Serrano said that among the total seizures, 9.87 tons of drugs are for transnational trafficking and 3.42 tons, for domestic consumption.
The minister added that until Feb. 22, a total of 101 people have been arrested for drug trafficking, including two minors.
One of the most important operations took place last Saturday when the country's army and police arrested nine suspects and seized about two tons of cocaine en route to San Cristobal Island of the Galapagos Archipelago, which is located in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 kilometers from the mainland.
Ecuador has become a transit territory for drug trafficking because of its location between Colombia and Peru, two major producer countries of cocaine. Drugs from those countries are generally headed to north, mostly to Mexico and the United States.
The police seized 61.63 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine, in 2014 and 57.43 tons of cocaine and other illicit drugs in 2013, according to official data. Enditem