Sinaloa Cartel Has Been Present In Ecuador For More Than 20 Years

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

A former Minister of Defense told MILENIO that the presence of Mexican cartels in that country began approximately four years ago.

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of three transnational organized crime groups operating in Ecuador and has been present in the South American country since 2003, that is, for more than 20 years, according to a report by the Ecuadorian National Police's Anti-Narcotics Directorate.

On July 31, the presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio - executed Wednesday in Quito with gunshots as he left a campaign event - publicly denounced death threats by a leader of the Mexican cartel.

The document states that the Sinaloa Cartel - one of the most powerful in the world -, through its "emissaries or representatives" coordinates the departure of drugs through airplanes, speedboats or "Go Fast", from the Ecuadorian coasts to Central and North America.

"For this illicit activity, the cartel makes alliances with various organizations that know the Ecuadorian territory and sea to serve as enclaves in the transport and exit of drugs between Colombia and the cocaine consumption markets. The logistical specialization carried out since the beginning of the century has positioned it as one of the organizations with the greatest capacity to distribute illicit drugs worldwide," the report highlights.

The report - also prepared by the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime (OECO) - highlights that, through various investigative actions carried out by the National Anti-Drug Investigation Directorate, the presence of members of the Sinaloa Cartel has been evidenced in the following sub-areas of Ecuador: Sucumbíos, Pichincha, Manabí, Los Ríos, Guayas and Santa Elena.

The study notes that this Mexican cartel became important in the South American country after 2009, and over the years has built various alliances with Ecuadorian criminal organizations such as Los Choneros.

"Specifically, the Sinaloa Cartel became relevant in Ecuador due to the arrest of former Army intelligence captain Telmo Remigio Castro in 2009, who began his alliance with the organization by facilitating the transportation of cocaine produced in Colombia to Central America and Mexico.

"The expansion of his logistical operations that included the contamination of containers and alliances with local organizations such as Los Choneros, continued until his murder in December 2019 in the Regional Prison of Guayaquil. From this event, Sanchez W. El Gato and Montenegro C. went on to lead the network and expand their activities to the production of illicit drugs through conversion laboratories in Ecuador," it highlights.

The document adds that, at present, El Gato is considered by the US Treasury Department as one of the main drug traffickers in the world, due to his contribution with the main Mexican cartels to traffic cocaine into US territory.

Consulted by MILENIO on the subject, the former Minister of Defense of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, stated that the presence of Mexican cartels in that South American country was established approximately four years ago.

"The existence of Mexican cartels was known, but they did not have a significant, forceful presence in Ecuador. Ecuador, as you probably also know, has traditionally been a non-drug producing country. It was a country through which drugs produced in Colombia and Peru transited, especially through, in some cases by land or sea, to go through the Pacific Ocean to the United States, but we were not a drug producing or drug processing country," he said.

The former head of the Ministry of Defense during the government of Rafael Correa, warned that in Ecuador, international cartels (such as Sinaloa or Jalisco New Generation), have infiltrated state institutions.

"Now evidently the cartels have unfortunately taken control of the state apparatuses, unfortunately of the police and military apparatuses. The U.S. government itself has denounced that there are narco generals in Ecuador, a few months ago it has taken away their visas, which for the United States is like condemning a person," he said.

Ricardo Patiño, who was also Minister of Foreign Affairs, considered that Ecuador is experiencing a crisis of violence and insecurity never seen before, after the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

"We are in a terrifying situation, this has never happened before in Ecuador. There we did not know about extortions, the so-called vacunas, we did not know, in Ecuador they did not exist, and they began to exist only during the Lasso government, but that did not exist in Ecuador, it did not happen. It did not happen either that people were killed hitman style, people left and right every day. Nor did we know about the assassination of politicians. You may be surprised by what I am telling you, the last assassination of a politician that I remember was 30 years ago", he added.

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