Criminal organizations even store rifle parts in collagen jars to bring them into the country and make them available to the gangs that dispute the territory. The astuteness of these organizations has surprised the Customs Police agents, who for a few months discovered how rifles were entering the country in parts. They did it inside packages sent through companies courier.
Lieutenant Colonel Emilio Ávalos, head of the Customs Police, explained that the long weapons arrived unarmed and that their pieces came inside bottles or among cell phone or car accessories, or in the middle of clothes, so that they would go unnoticed and that here they were gangs assembled weapons. Only at the Quito airport some 50 parts of long weapons were discovered in different packages since last November.
On November 22, 2,000 pieces of ammunition were found in a package containing quilts.
On November 25, several pieces of M4 rifles were found in a package that arrived from New York.
Last year, Customs seized a total of 10 M4 rifles that were shipped by courier.
This year there were other cases. On January 19, a hunting rifle was discovered camouflaged in the middle of various articles of clothing. It happened in Quito and the National Customs Service of Ecuador (Senae) detected this weapon through X-rays.
A hunting rifle, camouflaged between clothes, intended to enter the country illegally. The @SENAE_Customs in #Quito managed to detect through X-rays the entry of weapons. Last year, Customs seized 10 M4 rifles and more than 2,000 ammunition that were sent by courier. pic.twitter.com/VNtSmY42hm
– Johanna Ramos Suarez (@Johanna_Ramos) January 20, 2022
The contaminated packages enter the country through the 4×4 modality (they do not exceed 4 kilos or 400 dollars) and are declared as personal items.
The Police explains that most of these detected packages came from the United States due to the ease in that country to acquire weapons.
Lieutenant Marlon Rodríguez, who is in charge of the Customs Police of Zone 8 (Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón), commented that today the regulations to establish themselves as a company courier It is not that complex and the organizations take advantage of this to bring in weapons and even drugs.
In Guayaquil these cases have also occurred. In January, 19 firearms were discovered in a container at the port.
In another container, 540,000 percussion caps for pressure guns, that is, nails, were discovered. This type of ammunition is used in traumatic pistols that would now also enter Ecuador through the northern border and that they would even be selling through social networks.
This type of weaponry was recently seized in Carchi. They sell it in Ecuador because they buy it cheaper in Colombia. There is a return of 200%.
The Ecuadorian Association of Express Messaging and Courier Companies is concerned that the express courier modality is beginning to be used as a system for the illegal entry of weapons and ammunition.
The guild has offered its expertise to efficiently detect packages containing illegal items. Part of this exchange will be the delivery of protocols and best security practices, such as having the Security Management system, which has standards, IATA regulations and certifications such as RA3, TCA, TAPA, BASC, ISO Standards, among others. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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.
