Ecuador presidential hopefuls pledge action on ports, where bananas hide cocaine

[Judi Lynn]

By Alexandra Valencia and Yury Garcia
October 11, 20236:10 AM CDT Updated 3 days ago

GUAYAQUIL/QUITO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Presidential candidates in Ecuador are pledging to use the military to crack down on drug exports from the country's ports, where over half of banana shipments flagged as suspicious and searched by authorities hide packages of cocaine.

Cocaine is also increasingly found in shipments of tuna, as well as hidden in hollowed-out pineapples and stashed amid sugar, police say.

The security situation in Ecuador has sharply deteriorated in recent years, one factor in South America's migrant exodus. The outgoing government has blamed an uptick in murders, prison violence and other crime on the growing presence of drug gangs.

Police have seized some 50 tonnes of drugs so far this year at the country's two principal ports.

The 6,500 containers of bananas which leave Ecuador - the world's top banana exporter - each week, many bound for Europe, are a top target for smugglers, then national anti-narcotics director Pablo Ramirez told Reuters last month.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ecuador-presidential-hopefuls-pledge-action-ports-where-bananas-hide-cocaine-2023-10-11/