HomeNewsBriefEcuador Loan Sharking Groups Bear Resemblance to Colombia's 'Oficinas'
BRIEF

Ecuador Loan Sharking Groups Bear Resemblance to Colombia's 'Oficinas'

ECUADOR / 3 SEP 2013 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Authorities in Ecuador are investigating whether two partially dismantled networks of loan sharks -- one with Colombian members -- are also involved in hired assassination, a structure that would bear similarities to debt collection offices used by some of Colombia's most notorious criminals.

On August 31, authorities in Guayaquil arrested 18 people, and found arms and drugs in one of eleven residences they searched, reported El Comercio. The prosecutor heading the case said one of those arrested was linked to at least 15 homicide accusations, and officials are investigating whether the suspects are also involved in "sicariato," or hired assassination.

The action followed the August 14 arrests of 38 people in Guayaquil. In one search, authorities found cards they said contained information of debtors, El Comercio reported.

Of those arrested in the August 14 operation, 30 suspects were Colombian and eight Ecuadorean. Interior Minister Jose Serrano called it the "first international group dedicated to illegal loans in Ecuador," reported AFP; but authorities are still investigating whether the network was foreign-run.

One merchant operating in the La Trinitaria sector of Guayaquil said that most merchants had to use these kinds of loan services, which charge exorbitant interest rates, because they are unable to get bank loans.

There were 98 complaints of loan sharking and extortion in Guayaquil filed with the Guayas state Attorney General's Office in the first six months of 2013, according to El Comercio. Arrests were also made recently for this crime in Manabi, further north and inland.

InSight Crime Analysis

The networks dismantled by Ecuadorean authorities have characteristics of Colombian debt collection offices or "oficinas de cobro." These oficinas, as they are known, often work on behalf of more sophisticated criminal organizations and run crime in a certain area, collecting debt and extortion payments, and offering hired assassination and mediation services.

The large number of Colombians involved in the network busted on August 14 makes it quite possible that the operation was Colombian-run. Colombian criminals have been known to use Ecuador as a base of operations in the past. As of 2012, the Rastrojos were thought to control many of the country's international drug routes, and a Rastrojos leader was recently arrested in the port city of Manta.

SEE ALSO: Rastrojos Profile

In 2011, a leader of a Colombian gang known as Cordillera, which began as an "oficina de cobro," was arrested in Guayaquil. The group was thought to have exported the Colombian model -- running local micro-trafficking and assassination services -- to Quito.

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

ARGENTINA / 29 JUN 2021

While the underworld in Rosario, Argentina, is dominated by large criminal groups like the Monos, a lower-profile group carved out…

EXTORTION / 27 JAN 2023

The Carlos Capa gang is one of the oldest surviving criminal gangs in Valles del Tuy, south of Caracas in…

CHINA AND CRIME / 11 OCT 2021

Contraband Chinese cigarettes are pouring into Latin America, infiltrating old smuggling routes and threatening longstanding criminal empires.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…