Along Ecuador’s southern Pacific coast, naval officers aboard launch patrols navigate the waters of the Gulf of Guayaquil to intercept trafficking routes toward the high seas. Guayaquil serves as a strategic shipping point for hundreds of tons of drugs, primarily cocaine, destined for the United States and Europe.
Naval Patrols and Pervasive Fear in the Gulf of Guayaquil
The crackdown follows intense government pressure. Since the administration of Guillermo Lasso came to power in 2021, the state has seized some 500 tons of drugs. Successive administrations have intensified military presence across land and sea, with President Noboa maintaining an iron-fisted crackdown over the past two years. In his effort to combat the gangs, Lasso has decreed several states of emergency, even giving a green light to residents to carry guns for their own defense, and declared criminal gangs to be terrorists to grant the military a policing role without having to declare an emergency. A soldier with a mask covering his face told AFP that there are many settlements around the Gulf of Guayaquil which criminal organizations use to gain access to carry out their illegal activities at sea.
Yet that high-level pressure has created severe friction on the ground. Critics note that arresting top crime bosses has fractured gangs rather than eliminated them, causing criminal networks to multiply, and many believe the war against the gangs will never be won.
Extortion on the Water and the Toll on Local Fishermen
For ordinary residents and maritime workers, the security situation remains perilous. Fishermen and crabbers working near the main commercial port find themselves at the mercy of heavily armed criminal crews, with armed men in launches, some with rifles, robbing and extorting money from crabbers and the people fishing there.
A fisherman who said he was afraid to give his name reported that workers are forced to pay $20 to $30 a week for the right to work unimpeded in the area. Boats that pay protection money receive a red mark on their motor to signal compliance—the sign criminals use to identify those who have been “vaccinated,” as they say, allowing crews to work in peace.
Among the residents of the many humble homes that line the gulf, fear is pervasive. Seventy-seven-year-old housewife Ilda Vera told AFP on Puerto Libertad island that everything is scary, including going fishing or crabbing, noting that a string of robberies and even killings have struck fear into residents’ hearts. Her sons have organized nightly watches to keep criminals from stealing their boats, which serve as the family’s only source of sustenance.
The regional violence reflects a staggering toll. Drug-linked criminality nearly doubled the homicide rate between 2021 and 2022, rising from 14 to 25 per 100,000 inhabitants. Last year, according to Ecuador’s interior ministry, the murder rate was one of the highest in the world, with more than 9,200 people killed.
Drone Surveillance and Micro-Trafficking Raids
Inland, anti-narcotics units target the lowest rungs of the narcotics supply chain. Operating with a drone to get a bird’s-eye view of the back alleys, Captain Bustamante lies in wait and spots three figures moving around at the edge of a playground, whom he identifies as micro-traffickers caught in the act selling locally in minute amounts rather than kilos.
During a typical raid in an area with no power, tactical teams use a battering ram to breach suspect homes, searching wardrobes and lifting mattresses by torchlight. In one operation inside a kitchen where a middle-aged woman protested and a young girl burst into tears, officers recovered a hiding place behind a window where a young suspect emerged and was detained, while two others were handcuffed in another room. Nearby, the captain found tiny paper packets of “H” stashed in a flowerpot, which is a highly addictive mix containing small amounts of heroin sold by neighbourhood dealers for $1.00 (£0.75) per packet.
Senior officers point to persistent judicial hurdles that complicate enforcement. One of the suspects is charged and could face five years in jail if convicted, while prosecutors release the other two, an occurrence senior officers say happens a lot while explicitly blaming corruption in the justice system and the prosecutor’s office.
Athens Gang Raids Yield Arrests, Firearms, and Cash
Domestic law enforcement actions run parallel to international anti-gang operations. In Athens, Georgia, specialized tactical units executed coordinated search warrants targeting local street gang operations.
On June 26, officers with the Athens-Clarke County Strategic Response Team, a special response team trained for high-risk situations, went to a residence on Rocksprings Court shortly before 7 a.m. to serve a search warrant. Following the raid, members of the ACC Police Gang Unit processed the location after it was placed under control, while another warrant search was made at a residence on the 100 block of Madison Avenue.
Investigators seized seven firearms, about 1.5 pounds of marijuana, and $17,330 in cash. Police reported that while there were other people at the locations, officers arrested three suspects in connection with the drugs and street gang activities who were allegedly affiliated with the gang known as Sex, Money, Murder, a gang identified by investigators as operating in the Athens area.
Police said Jaylen Malik Brown, 22, of Lake Forest Drive, and Tedero Anthony Phillips, 21, of Rocksprings Road, were arrested at the Rocksprings location, while Doukyius Nathan Clark, 19, of Madison Avenue, was arrested at another location. All three are charged with violating the street gang act, possession of firearms during a felony, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of the drug near a public housing project, and all three remained in jail without bond on Tuesday.
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