The president of Ecuador supervises the seizure of 1.5 tons of medication on the coast

The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, supervised, this Saturday, within the coastal metropolis of Manta, the seizure of 1.5 tons of medication, equal to twenty million {dollars}, in an motion that the Authorities calls “a tough blow to the terrorism”.

In an announcement, the Presidency reported that the Safety Block, by means of the Ecuadorian Navy, intercepted on Friday one and a half tons of medication, the kind of which has not been specified, and 18 gallons of backed gasoline transported in boats to Manta.

This Saturday Noboa verified the respective process with the seized cargo and with the captured individuals: “We’ve got an vital seize. And we proceed engaged on our method, which isn’t solely to grab medicine however to avoid wasting lives,” he stated.

Particulars concerning the seizure

The medicine discovered are valued at 20 million {dollars}, “which is a superb blow to the construction of the drug trafficking teams that attempted to enter medicine by means of Manta,” the letter states.

The prosecutor in command of this operation in Manta, Johanna Cobeña, defined that the naval items detected two fishing vessels 169 nautical miles northeast of Manta.

{Photograph} offered by the Presidency of Ecuador of the President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa (c) throughout a drug seizure within the port of Manta, this Saturday in Manta (Ecuador).

In one in all them, 80 cans of backed gasoline have been discovered, every measuring 18 gallons (68.1 liters), which, in keeping with naval intelligence sources, was used to provide the ship transporting the medicine.

Because of the operation, seven individuals have been arrested and are actually within the fingers of the authorities.

The president fulfilled his agenda this Saturday in Manta, one of many cities most affected by violence within the nation, which is why this week he requested that the primary instructions of the Police and the Military have their non permanent bases in that metropolis.

Combating violence, Ecuador’s precedence

The spiral of violence was unleashed final January when the Authorities was getting ready to advance the so-called ‘Phoenix Plan’, with the intention of regaining management of the prisons, lots of them beneath the domination of prison teams, whose rivalries have left extra of 450 prisoners killed since 2020 in a collection of jail massacres.

This violence additionally moved to the streets till Ecuador grew to become probably the most violent nations within the area, with 45 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.

{Photograph} offered by the Presidency of Ecuador of the President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa (c-back) throughout a drug seizure within the port of Manta, this Saturday in Manta (Ecuador).

Surrounded by Colombia and Peru, the 2 largest producers of cocaine on the planet, Ecuador has develop into a key level within the international trafficking of this drug lately, as mafias reap the benefits of its ports and coasts to ship tons of this drug to Europe and North America.

Ecuador can be the third nation on the planet that seizes essentially the most medicine behind Colombia and america, having exceeded 200 tons of narcotic substances seized yearly within the final three years.

Quito / EFE