More than a ton of drugs found last Wednesday in Urdesa’s home.
A street sweeper cleans accumulated dust and debris on one side of the intersection of Mirtos and Costanera streets, in central Urdesa, one of the best-known residential neighborhoods in the north of Guayaquil. On Thursday morning of last week the traffic flow in that area was low, while few neighbors circulated on sidewalks or at the gates of the houses.
There, in a corner house with a stone facade and two black doors on the sides, there was a finding that caused concern and astonishment among residents. According to the Police, the place operated as a drug collection center. The property had been rented a month ago by the owners, according to the neighbors.
On Wednesday of that same week, a vehicle that noticed the police presence entered a building and managed to find the place where drugs were stored. 1.2 tons of drugs were found in the car, in hidden compartments, and in two rooms, distributed in more than 1,180 rectangular-shaped packages. In that intervention, in addition, three people were arrested and a weapon, two vehicles and cash valued at $ 4,663 were seized.
About three tons of drugs are found in the warehouse of a property in the northwest of Guayaquil
That is one of the recent blows by the National Police to the fight against drug trafficking, in a year that sets a record in drug seizures. The main scene of seizures is Guayas, with 70% of the 190 tons seized so far this year. In 2020, which was also considered an unprecedented figure, there were 128.4 tons seized nationwide, according to police records.
Likewise, police agents have referred that criminal groups often search for properties in residential areas or private complexes to try to go unnoticed in the collection of illicit substances, which later they try to send hidden in containers that leave by sea through the ports of the city to destinations in Central America, North America and Europe.
In addition to the use of warehouses or warehouses in peripheral and southern areas near the ports, several of the recent drug discoveries have been replicated in residential areas, such as La Alborada, Kennedy, in the north of the city and closed citadels of La Aurora. , in Daule.
In May of this year, in the eighth stage of the Alborada, elite groups intervened a building. There they found more than 2,230 drug packages in a room and in a double-bottomed truck. Two people who were guarding the place were arrested.
Two months earlier, in the middle of investigative tasks, in the fourth stage of the same citadel, Anti-narcotics agents and the Special Mobile Anti-Narcotics Group (GEMA) detected that a group of subjects broke the security of two buildings that were used as storage places for drug from another narco-criminal gang.
The gendarmes detected that the subjects were trying to remove five packages with packages of cocaine hydrochloride, whose total weight was 258 kilos, and detained five people.
The commander of Zone 8 of the National Police, Fausto Buenaño, in the latest seizure of Urdesa, said that regularly these groups locate homes and warehouses, rented to third parties, to collect drugs and then take advantage of the darkness of the night to mobilize the drug that later contaminates containers.
In some cases, drug detection occurs at the terminals; for example, this same week there was another seizure of 50 kilos inside bags of flour that were intended to be sent to Europe.
In the case of Urdesa, Pedro, a resident who has spent five decades in this traditional sector of northern Buenos Aires, comments that, as a result of the recurring robberies in the area, several residences have been implementing security improvements with bars and fences for several years. . However, learning about the seizure of drugs in one of the houses in the sector causes him greater concern, as it is exposed to the presence of people who seek residential areas to commit illicit activities.
“Obviously, one gets nervous,” he says while arranging the patio of his home in an area that is located a few minutes from Av. Carlos Julio Arosemena, a road artery that leads to the southwest and the center of the city.
Jaime Ortiz, a resident of the same neighborhood, fears that in the future in that residential area with a high commercial movement, scenes of gang confrontations will be replicated that, upon learning of the presence of a collection center of another group, will try to steal the drug, as happened. in March of this year in the fourth stage of the Alborada.
Suggestions from the real estate sector
Sue Murillo, president of the Guayas Real Estate Brokers Association (Acbir), mentions that on some occasions property owners prefer not to hire a brokerage professional, but instead look for the cheapest thing to “save” those costs; There are even those who manage the rental of their properties on their own.
“This inconvenience has occurred due to the issue of informality: people do not make contracts, do not investigate possible or potential clients and end up being a threat,” he mentions about the possible inconveniences that could arise with tenants, such as lack of solvency and involvement in crimes.
As well as the real estate expert, the residents consulted from Urdesa also consider it appropriate for homeowners to take precautions with greater inquiry about the judicial past of their potential tenants.
As part of the inquiries that the brokers unionized in Acbir take to warn the property owners, there is a review of the credit bureau, personal, commercial and banking references of the possible tenant.
“To see how your credit is, how much debt you have, you are asked to be a guarantor, it is handled in a more formal way. The problem of what is usually happening or usually happens is basically that: the person who wants to rent is not investigated. They receive the money without any kind of care and the consequences are those that are already known ”, comments Murillo.
Regarding the experience of the brokers, Murillo says that in the Acbir portal they can verify if they are licensed as a formal broker. All of them are subject to a code of ethics. (I)
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
