Ecuador: a Country at War with the Narcos

TL;DR

Overall Summary: Ecuador transformed from a peaceful tourist destination into Latin America's most dangerous country after economic collapse allowed 22 drug gangs backed by Mexican, Colombian, and Albanian cartels to take control.

Key Points

• 1.7,600 homicides per year; Guayaquil alone sees 7 murders daily
• 2.Ecuador became the world's leading cocaine export hub to Europe and the US—220+ tons seized in 2023
• 3.Drugs hidden in banana shipments (6.5 million tons exported annually) and attached to ship hulls
• 4.Prisons became cartel command centers; gang leader "Fito" ran operations from a luxury cell before escaping
• 5.President Noboa deployed 22,000 military and 60,000 police against an estimated 50,000 gang members
• 6.Kidnappings, torture, and bus robberies are daily occurrences; even TV stations attacked live on air
• 7.Corruption reaches highest levels—50 officials arrested including prosecutors, judges, and military chiefs
• 8.Mayors and judges face constant assassination attempts; three mayors killed during filming period
• 9.Army's indigenous "Jungle Demons" unit now controls prisons and hunts cocaine labs in the Amazon