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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

Ecuador seizes two tonnes of cocaine in fruit container bound for Sweden

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Ongoing story
  • Ecuadorian police seized two tonnes of cocaine from a fruit exporter’s container at the port of Machala in the coastal province of El Oro.
  • Interior Minister John Reimberg said the container was bound for Sweden and contained 2,040 cocaine blocks; the operation remained under way.
  • The seizure comes as Ecuador serves as a major transit route for drugs headed mainly to Europe and North America.

Ecuadorian police seized two tonnes of cocaine from a container carrying fruit for export to Sweden, Interior Minister John Reimberg said.

The operation took place at the seaport of Machala, in the coastal province of El Oro near the border with Peru. Authorities identified the container as belonging to a fruit-exporting company, whose name the minister did not disclose.

Antinarcotics police found 2,040 blocks of cocaine, Reimberg said in a social media post. He added that the operation was still under way.

Ecuador is considered the world’s third-largest drug-seizing country, after Colombia and the United States. The article cites seizures of about 200 tonnes in 2021 and a record of nearly 300 tonnes in 2024.

Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest cocaine producers, Ecuador has several ports along its coast and a dollarized economy. In recent years, it has become an important transit point for cocaine, most of which is destined for Europe and North America.

The antinarcotics police seized 2,040 blocks of cocaine.

· John ReimbergEcuador’s interior minister reported the quantity seized in the container.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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