HomeNewsBriefPolice Corruption Scandals Hit Well-Regarded Forces in Ecuador, Chile
BRIEF

Police Corruption Scandals Hit Well-Regarded Forces in Ecuador, Chile

CHILE / 16 OCT 2017 BY PARKER ASMANN EN

In Ecuador and Chile, two of Latin America's most trusted police institutions have been hit by recent corruption scandals, a reminder that even the most highly-regarded security forces in the region are far from perfect.

Ecuador's national police is currently embroiled in one of the most serious cases of corruption in the institution's recent history.

The commander-in-chief and other high-ranking police officers allegedly approved the transfer of other officers to different cities in exchange for bribes between $1,500 and $4,000, El Comercio reported in June. According to the Ecuadorean investigative news outlet Plan V, more than 47,000 transfers were processed between 2014 and 2015, netting the group some $16 million, according to El Comercio.

Moreover, between 2013 and 2017, nearly 1,000 Ecuadorean national police officers were dismissed, El Telegrafo reported. Slightly less than half of those were dismissed for allegedly criminal behavior. Most recently, two officers were dismissed after loading 85 kilograms of cocaine into a patrol car, while two more were dismissed for allegedly leading an extortion ring.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Police Reform

Meanwhile, in Chile, arrests continue to pile up as a multimillion-dollar fraud scandal unfolds within the country's national police force, known as the Carabineros.

Twenty-one individuals have been implicated in the latest round of arrests, bringing the total number of those allegedly involved in the scandal to 118, La Nación reported. The embezzlement scandal allegedly redirected as much as 25 billion Chilean pesos (around $40 million) from the institution's coffers to the personal accounts of the officers under investigation. 

At a hearing earlier this year, Chilean prosecutor Eugenio Campos called the scandal "the biggest embezzlement in the history of Chile." 

InSight Crime Analysis 

The police forces of Chile and Ecuador are widely viewed as two of the most professional and trusted law enforcement institutions in Latin America. In the past, Ecuador's police force has even been described as a "model for the region to follow." The two countries also boast some of the region's lowest homicide rates, which are often used as an indicator of police efficacy.

However, recent surveys show that citizens feel corruption is worsening in Latin America, and police forces tend to be the first bodies targeted for corruption by organized crime. Although the recent scandals in the South American countries are examples of internal graft schemes as opposed to cooptation by outside groups, the apparent willingness to engage in graft on the part of large segments of both forces suggests that they could be susceptible to external influence.

SEE ALSO: From Chile to Mexico: Best and Worst of LatAm Police

Both Chile and Ecuador are key transshipment points for the global cocaine trade. It is possible that a boom in Andean cocaine production could provide crime groups in both countries with increased resources that they could use to target security institutions for cooptation.

Ecuador's national police force is arguably at greater risk than Chile's Carabineros. A number of recent multi-ton cocaine seizures suggests that the country is playing an increasingly important role in the global drug trade. Corrupting security forces, which criminal groups have done in the past in Ecuador, is often essential for these large shipments to be successfully trafficked.

Crime groups also appear to be ramping up activities in Chile. A recent report documented an explosive growth in the country's contraband cigarette trade in recent years, which was linked to sophisticated criminal organizations that often rely on complicit security officials to operate. Some 20 cocaine labs have also been dismantled in Chile throughout the last year, suggesting that the country's role as a drug consumption and transshipment point may be evolving to include production operations.

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

ECUADOR / 30 SEP 2021

Ecuador is reeling from its worst-ever prison massacre in Guayaquil but the factors that led to this situation could well…

COCAINE / 28 FEB 2022

The assassination of a suspected Albanian drug trafficker in Ecuador is another reminder of the increasing presence of Balkan trafficking…

COCAINE / 28 OCT 2022

Murders in Esmeraldas, northern Ecuador, have exploded. Gangs battling for control of drug trafficking routes are to blame.

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…