Overview
- Authorities said coordinated teams from the Ecuadorian Navy and National Police worked with the U.S. Coast Guard and DEA in a series of maritime interdictions.
- In international waters 263 nautical miles southeast of the Galápagos, officers seized about 1.9 tonnes of narcotics and detained two Ecuadorian citizens.
- Inside Ecuador’s exclusive economic zone 154 nautical miles west of Santa Elena, a second action netted 56 kilograms and led to three more arrests.
- About 180 nautical miles off Manta, police and the DEA intercepted three boats with nearly one tonne concealed in double bottoms, detaining six people.
- Officials reported roughly 2.9 tonnes seized and at least 11 detainees across three operations, though one account cites two actions totaling 1.9 tonnes and five arrests, and they estimated the haul’s value at about $50 million in the U.S. market and $70 million in Europe.