HomeNewsBriefEcuador Dismantled 125 FARC Camps During 2010
BRIEF

Ecuador Dismantled 125 FARC Camps During 2010

ECUADOR / 7 JAN 2011 BY INSIGHT CRIME EN

Ecuador dismantled 125 camps belonging to guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) during 2010, cementing the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Colombia and threatening the rebels' logistical and drug trafficking operations.

The announcement was made by Ecuador’s new ambassador to Bogota, Raul Vallejo, during his first interview with the media since taking up his position.  Ecuador has long been a key rearguard and support area for the FARC’s southern fighting division, known as the Southern Bloc.  Rebel presence in Ecuador’s northern provinces was an open secret and the Ecuadorean security forces, like their Venezuelan counterparts, seemed to turn a blind eye to FARC activity.

That all changed in March 2008 when the Colombian air force bombed a FARC camp two kilometers within Ecuador, killing Luis Edgar Devia Silva, alias "Raul Reyes," seen by many as the FARC second-in-command, who supervised the Southern Bloc and ran the rebels’ international relations. The bombardment prompted two responses from Ecuador.  The first was the severing of diplomatic relations, which were only fully restored at the end of last year, the second concerted efforts by the Ecuadorean security forces to push the FARC out of their territory. In 2008, 170 camps were destroyed, in 2009, 121, and last year, 125.

With the death of Devia Silva, Milton de Jesus Toncel, alias "Joaquin Gomez," took his place in the FARC’s seven-man ruling body, the Secretariat, and runs the Southern Bloc.  Colombian intelligence reports indicate that he moves between the Colombian provinces of Putumayo and Nariño, and constantly flits across the border into Ecuador.

When in the year 2000 Ecuador adopted the dollar as its national currency the FARC were able to spend their narco-dollars without having to change or launder the money.  So Colombia’s southern neighbor became the logistical and medical base for not only the FARC’s Southern Bloc, but for much of Western Joint Command, the FARC division that operates along Colombia’s Pacific coast.

Ecuador is also important for the FARC’s drug operations, with the 48th Front, based in Putumayo and the Ecuadorean province of Sucumbios, handling much of this. Ecuador has now become an important transshipment point for Colombian cocaine. The first fully submersible drug submarine was found in Ecuador in July last year, capable of carrying a crew of five and 10 tons of drugs.

View InSight Map: Drug Routes - Ecuador in a larger map

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.

Tags

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

COCAINE / 5 JAN 2023

With historic cocaine seizures happening across Latin America, how can governments safely and quickly get rid of the drugs they…

COCAINE / 13 APR 2023

Authorities in Russia made a large-scale seizure of cocaine in Moscow, following another in St. Petersburg last month.

BRAZIL / 7 FEB 2023

A new report points out how the success rate in fighting money laundering across Latin America varies widely from country…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…