HomeNewsBriefColombia Cartel Laundered European Profits Through Ecuador
BRIEF

Colombia Cartel Laundered European Profits Through Ecuador

COLOMBIA / 31 AUG 2011 BY VERONICA PRATES EN

Colombia's Norte del Valle drug cartel has been laundering money through a network in Ecuador, according to the Ecuadorian authorities.

This was discovered through the Spanish Police's operation “Espejo” (Mirror), which has been in progress for the past two years, reported Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio.

The Norte del Valle Cartel is generally considered defunct. Those involved in the laundering ring could be former Valle operatives acting independently, or perhaps members of the Rastrojos, a gang which started as an armed force for one faction of Norte del Valle, before taking over much of the group's old territory.

According to the report, money from drug sales in Europe was sent to Ecuador through remittances and internet transfers to front companies. It was then distributed among in different bank accounts to be withdrawn in quantities below $30 by various individuals, who would physically take the cash to Colombia and deliver it to cartel members.

The Ecuadorian Money Laundering Unit said that between 2007 and 2010, the organization transferred about $4.5 million through the Internet and sent 2.1 million euros disguised as remittances in 2010.

The investigations was carried out in six municipalities of Ecuador, and has found four front companies and 470 people involved in the operations in that country. There is an arrest warrant for all suspects, but most have not been found, an officer told El Comercio.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 26 MAY 2022

Until his death, Gentil Duarte was the most-wanted man in Colombia and one of South America's leading drug traffickers.

COLOMBIA / 3 OCT 2022

Colombian rebels had long been welcome in Venezuela but now, they have arrived in force, bringing conflict with them.

COCAINE / 17 NOV 2022

InSight Crime sat down with Suriname's President Chan Santokhi to discuss the multiple criminal challenges ahead for the country.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Rights Watch Draws on InSight Crime's Haiti Coverage

18 AUG 2023

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch relied on InSight Crime's coverage this week, citing six articles and one of our criminal profiles in its latest report on the humanitarian…