QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador and Belgium on Monday agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against transnational organized crime. The day after Ecuadorian police seized nearly nine tons of drugs destined for the country.
The two countries’ interior ministers signed an agreement in Quito to facilitate the exchange of information, methods, procedures, experience and technology to combat organized crime.
Police in Ecuador have found about 8.78 tons of cocaine hidden in banana containers, the organization said Sunday.
The drugs were to be exported to Belgium from the Ecuadorian coastal city of Guayaquil, police said, adding that the European shipment was worth about $330 million.
Conservative ex-banker President Guillermo Lasso has called on Ecuador to step up its efforts to fight gangs by using the country as a transit point to transport cocaine to the United States and Europe. Ecuador’s Interior Minister Juan Zapata told reporters that the scale of the confiscations over the weekend forced Ecuador to step up its cooperation with the Belgian government even more.
Zapata said nearly 18% of his 201 tonnes of drugs seized in Ecuador last year were destined for Belgium, particularly Antwerp.
“There is no denying the need for a new cross-cutting response to organized crime,” he said.
According to police, as of 2023, Ecuador has seized around 39 tons of drugs, especially cocaine.
