On the front line of Ecuador's drugs war, police fight gangs, guns and corruption
BBC News 2026-07-28 05:01:19
Context: In the Ecuadoran city of Durán, Police Captain Jean Carlos Bustamante is leading the fight against powerful gangs, guns, and corruption. Durán has been riddled with drugs and rival gangs, with a high murder rate and a reputation for violence, and Captain Bustamante is aware of the risks, having lost three close friends in the line of duty. The city's police force is struggling to contain the gangs, which have links to Mexican cartels and Albanian mafia groups and take advantage of Ecuador's weak border controls and underfunded security forces.
Key Facts
- Around 70% of the cocaine reaching Europe and the US is funnelled out of Ecuador, according to the country's president, Daniel Noboa, with the drug pouring in from neighbouring Colombia and Peru, the two biggest producers in the world.
- In the past year, Ecuador's murder rate was one of the highest in the world, with more than 9,200 people killed, according to Ecuador's interior ministry, despite an iron-fisted crackdown by President Noboa over the past two years.
- Captain Bustamante's team conducted a raid on an abandoned house, finding two handguns – one rusty but the other ready to be fired - and ammunition for an assault rifle, which the captain considered a small victory in a war of attrition.
- The gangs have significant financial resources, with Colonel Santiago Gavilanes, deputy commander of Durán police, stating that they have money to "buy laws, judges, and politicians", and another police officer reporting being offered a massive bribe - "enough money to retire on" - to turn a blind eye to their activities.
- The murder rate in Durán is down by half in the first six months of this year, according to police, with other indications of progress, including streets no longer deserted after 19:00 local time, and bodies no longer found beheaded or dismembered.