All About Ecuador

NEWS

Contraband Chinese Cigarettes Take Latin America by Storm

CHINA AND CRIME / 11 OCT 2021

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

Ecuador: The New Corridor for South American Arms Trafficking

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 4 OCT 2021

Military intelligence has revealed a flow of arms from Chile and Peru into Ecuador along its southern border, highlighting the country's key role in emerging arms trafficking routes.

Ecuador’s Prison Slaughterhouse a Warning to Rest of Latin America

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 be replicated in other countries across the region.

Migrant Smuggling Routes, Hideouts in Colombia's Indigenous Lands

COLOMBIA / 28 SEP 2021

The recent dismantling of a migrant smuggling ring in Colombia has revealed the routes, corruption networks and modus operandi used to move thousands of migrants through the country.

Explosives and Weapons Heading to Ecuador – Colombia Border

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 7 SEP 2021

Authorities have made a string of explosives and weapons seizures while patrolling the Colombia-Ecuador border region – a remote and lawless frontier that is home to a volatile mix of…

Homicides Pile Up in Ecuador in Revenge for Key Drug Seizure

COCAINE / 20 AUG 2021

Seven people were gunned down in Guayaquil after a record cocaine seizure – in a revenge attack that shows ripples in the equilibrium of drug gangs responsible for the storage…

US Coast Guard Makes Record Drug Haul in Pacific, Caribbean

BOLIVIA / 13 AUG 2021

The US Coast Guard unloaded 27 tons of cocaine after a three-month operation in the Pacific and Caribbean, a massive haul that underscores maritime drug flows and cocaine production remain…

Million-Dollar Seizure of Shark Fins Leads to Lenient Fine in Ecuador

ECUADOR / 10 AUG 2021

The alleged exporter of a shipment of 26 tons of illegal shark fins from Ecuador to Hong Kong has received a fine of a few thousand dollars, showing how people…

Fishermen Fight Off Pirate Attacks in Ecuador

ECUADOR / 1 JUL 2021

Fishermen in Ecuador have taken matters into their own hands to combat pirate attacks that have long plagued its coastal provinces.

Fishing Village Caught in Crosshairs of Ecuador Drug Gangs

COCAINE / 23 JUN 2021

In Ecuador’s coastal town of Posorja, boats are being set on fire and people are being killed, as this fishing community - a key cocaine transit hub - becomes entangled…

Timber Mafias at Ecuador’s Borders Cash in on Balsa Boom

ECUADOR / 1 JUN 2021

Timber mafias operating along Ecuador’s borders with Peru and Colombia have been profiting from thriving demand for balsa wood.

Los Lagartos

ECUADOR / 1 JUN 2021

Integrated by multiple gangs with shared allies and enemies, Los Lagartos is one of Ecuador’s prolific prison gangs, whose rivalry with Los Choneros has spurned unprecedented levels violence in Ecuador’s…

Dedicated Hitmen - The New Modus Operandi in Ecuador

ECUADOR / 20 MAY 2021

A string of brazen targeted killings in Ecuador showcases how violence between the country's criminal gangs is continuing to spiral out of control.

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InSight Crime Tackles Illegal Fishing

15 OCT 2021

In October, InSight Crime and American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS) began a year-long project on illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing in…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Featured in Handbook for Reporting on Organized Crime

8 OCT 2021

In late September, the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) published an excerpt of its forthcoming guide on reporting organized crime in Indonesia.

THE ORGANIZATION

Probing Organized Crime in Haiti

1 OCT 2021

InSight Crime has made it a priority to investigate organized crime in Haiti, where an impotent state is reeling after the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, coupled with an…

THE ORGANIZATION

Emergency First Aid in Hostile Environments

24 SEP 2021

At InSight Crime's annual treat, we ramped up hostile environment and emergency first aid training for our 40-member staff, many of whom conduct on-the-ground investigations in dangerous corners of the region.

THE ORGANIZATION

Series on Environmental Crime in the Amazon Generates Headlines

17 SEP 2021

InSight Crime and the Igarapé Institute have been delighted at the response to our joint investigation into environmental crimes in the Colombian Amazon. Coverage of our chapters dedicated to illegal mining…

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