627 Kilos of Cocaine Found Hidden in Banana Container in Ecuador Bound for Belgium

Ecuadorian police found 627 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a banana container bound for Belgium during an operation at the port of Posorja in Guayas province.

Specialized police units discovered a beige substance with a paste-like consistency concealed in the container’s roof and floor. It had been placed beneath the metal structure and between layers of insulating material. Subsequent tests confirmed that the substance was cocaine.

Police estimated the shipment’s value at about $29.3 million on the European market. It would have been worth an estimated $18.8 million in the United States and $1.4 million in Ecuador. Authorities calculated that the total amount equaled roughly 6.27 million doses.

The police said they continue to monitor the country’s ports to prevent drugs from being sent abroad in export containers. On Sunday, officers also seized two more tons of cocaine from a fruit container bound for Sweden in El Oro province, near the border with Peru.

Ecuador is considered the world’s third-largest drug seizure country, behind Colombia and the United States. It seized 200 tons annually in 2021 and reached a record of nearly 300 tons in 2024. Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has several coastal ports and a dollarized economy. The country has become an important transit route for cocaine, much of it headed to Europe and North America.