The homicide rate in Ecuador, which just 5 years ago was one of the lowest in Latin America, with 5.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 46.5 per 100,000 in 2023, EL UNIVERSO reported. According to official data, there were 7,787 intentional murders; Of this total number, only 584 were resolved, and a warrant was issued for 123.

How to explain that this indicator multiplied by 8 in five years and that Ecuador became the country with the highest rate in Latin America (in some Caribbean countries it is still higher)?

A fundamental factor was the proliferation and fragmentation of organized crime groups (OCGs), dedicated to drug trafficking and other illicit activities (extortion, illegal mining, kidnapping, etc.). While in Colombia they put more control in the ports, Ecuador delayed the installation of already purchased container scanners. When the then presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio said that the fight against GDO would be one of his priorities, he was killed.

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This has made the Guayaquil-Antwerp route one of the most important routes for cocaine smuggling, according to The Economist.

The investigation of the Metastasis case, conducted by State Attorney Diana Salazar, revealed multiple lines of communication between the murdered capo Leandro Norero, as well as the likes of Ronny Aleaga, Xavier Jordán, Rafael Correa and Jorge Glas.

“Who rules in a political organization? The leaders who are on the run in Belgium are not in charge, Xavier Jordán, who is on the run in Miami, is in charge,” as Diana Salazar described in detail the influence of the Norero network in politics.

The prosecutor revealed that there are conversations between Norero and Daniel Salcedo, in which it is evident that the drug trafficker paid $250,000 for the freedom of Jorge Glas. They hoped that this “small favor” would be returned to them when Glas became president.

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During Correa’s government, there were not many drug seizures and the GDOs were able to operate with less control. In the conversation between Jordan and Norer, Jordán writes: “We will return to power, we will laugh there.” Norero replied that he just wanted peace, and Jordán added that he would have “plenty of peace and money”.

During Correa’s government, conditions were created that strengthened GDOs: “universal citizenship” allowed criminals from dozens of countries to enter without a visa (2008); removal of the American base in Manta (2009); The Police Anti-Drug Intelligence Unit (UIES) was disbanded in 2009 and replaced by SENAIN; agreement with the gangs Latin Kings (from Aleaga) and Los Ñetas (from Norero) in 2009; increasing control by the GDO over prisons.

After the death of some bosses such as the alias “Rasquiña” and Norero, there was a conflict between the different GDOs for the control of the territory. In the decree declaring an internal armed conflict, President Noboa mentions 22 GDOs, which also reflects the conflicts between Mexican and Albanian cartels to control the drug trade.(OR)