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International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998
Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC, February 1999


ECUADOR 

I. Summary 

Ecuador continues to be a major transit country for cocaine hydrochloride
(HCl), primarily from Colombia, destined for the United States
and Europe. Colombian traffickers control much of the cocaine
smuggled into Ecuador. Colombian heroin and Peruvian HCl also
transit Ecuador. Ecuador is used to import essential chemicals
for cocaine production and to launder money. The Government of
Ecuador (GOE) fully cooperates with the USG in the fight against
narcotics trafficking. Lack of adequate governmental funding for
counternarcotics (CN) efforts and little interagency coordination
are weak points. GOE anti-narcotics police (particularly the canine
unit) made frequent drug seizures throughout the year. Ecuador
is a party to and has enacted legislation to implement the provisions
of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 

II. Status of Country 

Ecuador is a destination for cocaine and smaller amounts of heroin
from Colombia, and the Andean Ridge. Some poppy and coca fields
have been found within Ecuador, but there are no indications that
significant amounts of heroin or cocaine is produced from these
plantings. Cocaine from Colombia is moved primarily via the Pan
American highway into Ecuador and then westbound to Guayaquil
and other Ecuadorian seaports (Esmeraldas, Manta). 

Cocaine is smuggled in hidden compartments in ocean going vessels,
concealment within containerized perishable items or bulk cargo,
and on body carriers passing through the Quito and Guayaquil airports.
Principally, passengers carrying small amounts on commercial airline
flights move Colombian heroin through Ecuador. West African traffickers--most
notably Nigerian smuggling groups--often transit through the Quito
and Guayaquil international airports. These couriers, and others,
are smuggling cocaine to the United States and Europe. 

Ecuador's northeastern border area with Colombia is of concern
for movement of both drugs and chemicals, but Colombian terrorist
activity there hinders analysis of the extent of the problem.
Drug trafficking along Ecuador's northwestern border with Colombia
could increase with completion of a new intercoastal highway linking
the two countries. Reports indicate traffickers are already using
the unfinished road due to lack of government security forces
in the area. 

Ecuador is believed to be a money laundering center due to its
proximity to Colombia and its close social and economic ties.
Money laundering is illegal under the 1990 narcotics law. 

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 1998 

In accordance with the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the GOE has passed
legislation criminalizing the production, transport and sale of
controlled narcotic substances; the import, transport and/or use
of essential chemicals without the written permission of the National
Drug Council (CONSEP); any attempt to conceal the profits from
narcotics trafficking activities; and the intimidation or subornation
of judicial and public authorities for drug crimes and illegal
association related to drug trafficking and profiteering.

Policy Initiatives. The GOE continued counternarcotics
efforts throughout the year. mobile road interdiction teams were
randomly deployed along Ecuadorian highways; drug detector dogs
were highly successful especially at Ecuadorian airports; a Joint
Information Coordination Center (JICC) was established in Guayaquil;
and prosecution and judiciary initiatives were undertaken to combat
corruption, inefficiency and politicization. Efforts continued
in meeting the 1988 UN Drug Convention objectives, which are incorporated
into the Ecuadorian counternarcotics law (108). 

On March 9, in an effort to control the rampant corruption in
the Ecuadorian Customs, former President Alarcon militarized that
institution, placing army personnel in key positions of control.
Legislation was passed and a new Customs control corporation has
been established which has the mission of rooting out corruption
within Customs, and modernizing that service. The Ecuadorian army
is due to be relieved of its Customs oversight responsibility
sometime in 1999. 

President Jamil Mahuad took office in August and his new Superintendent
of Banks has shown a willingness to push for a joint task force
to expedite interagency coordination in pursuing financial investigations
regarding control of money laundering. 

Building on legislation adopted in 1997, the National Drug Council
(CONSEP) has made a major effort during the year to donate seized
assets to the police. This has had the twofold benefit of aiding
the police, and removing from CONSEP warehouses of valuable commodities
such as cars that were subject to misuse. CONSEP has almost completed
its revision of the five-year National Drug Plan, which should
be released before the end of calendar year 1998. 

Accomplishments. The GOE continued its excellent cooperation
with the United States Government (USG) against narcotics trafficking
during 1998. The Ecuadorian military has taken training to improve
its capacity to deter participation by Colombian guerilla groups
in narcotics and chemical trafficking. A USG-donated patrol boat
is making counternarcotics patrols in coordination with the DEA
in Guayaquil. Road checkpoints throughout the country accounted
for 40 percent of the drugs seized by the police. The record of
this force is so impressive that port authorities in Guayaquil
and exporters in Manta have contributed funds to construct facilities
for their use. The police canine center received sixteen new dogs
in February (jointly purchased by the U.S. and the United Kingdom)
and held a two-month international training course for the dogs
and new guides. This represents a significant increase in capability
of this unit. 

Ecuador developed a chemical control program in 1998. Ecuador
and Colombia conducted bilateral law enforcement operations to
stop the flow of chemicals along the rivers bordering the two
countries. Ecuador, however, needs to develop better and more
effective systems for monitoring and regulating chemical handlers
who are required to be registered with the government. There is
no mechanism to monitor individuals making multiple purchases
of small quantities of chemicals, which is reported to be a significant
diversion method in Ecuador. 

Law Enforcement Efforts. To improve the professionalism
and efficiency of the Ecuadorian National Police (ENP), on September
10, the GOE created a judicial police unit to foster closer coordination
with prosecutors. Also, there are plans to create a separate anti-narcotics
police unit within the judicial police, to allow greater concentration
of efforts in this field. The police participate in regional (Andean)
efforts, particularly with Colombia, and this year hosted the
regional DEA-sponsored International Drug Enforcement Conference
(IDEC) meeting in Quito. Information on suspected narcotics shipments
is passed to other countries' police, and has resulted in seizures
in those countries. For 1998, the ENP drug seizures were over
53 kilograms of heroin (compared to 34 kilograms in 1997, 69 kilograms
cocaine base/paste (compared to 1.6 metric tons in 1997), 3.2
metric tons cocaine HCl (compared to 2.1 metric tons in 1997),
and 17.7 metric tons of marijuana (compared to 22 kilograms in
1997). 

The police counternarcotics training center is comprehensively
updating its curriculum and is also incorporating correspondence
courses as a pre-selection tool for attendance at both advanced
and basic courses. Steps are being taken to monitor the unit assignments
of all graduates to ensure these qualified individuals are working
in counternarcotics units. 

The JICC in Guayaquil was inaugurated November 24 and, with its
connection to the USG's center in El Paso, Texas, increased investigative
coordination is expected to result. In order to improve the criminal
case conviction rate and the professionalism of staff, the chief
prosecutor's office has set up for the first time a prosecutors
school. Two U.S. Department of Justice attorneys taught at this
school during the summer. The narcotics police have installed
a modern, computerized intelligence system that facilitates compilation
and retrieval of case and suspect data. In the near future it
will allow sharing of this data with field units. 

Corruption. The 1990 narcotics law provides for prosecution
of any government official, including judges, who deliberately
impedes the prosecution of anyone charged under that law. As a
matter of government policy, the GOE does not encourage or facilitate
the illicit production or distribution of drugs or other controlled
substances or the laundering of drug money. While narcotics-related
corruption is a problem in Ecuador, in 1998 no senior official
was identified as engaged in the production or distribution of
drugs or in the laundering of illicit proceeds. 

One high-level law enforcement official was forced to resign when
his involvement in bribery in a narcotics court case came to light,
and a minister fled the country while under investigation for
misuse of government funds. In collaboration with the U.S. Embassy
and the Department of Justice, the chief prosecutor's office has
agreed to set up a special task force that will work in close
coordination with the ENP in pursuit of corruption crimes.

Arrests and/or Prosecutions. The USG and the GOE are working
to bolster interdiction cooperation. On March 10, the captain
of the Don Celso fishing vessel, seized last year with 7.6 tons
of cocaine, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. 

Agreements and Treaties. Although the USG and the GOE have an
extradition treaty in force, the treaty is outdated. Ecuador does
not extradite its own nationals, but has cooperated with the USG
in the deportation or extradition of non-Ecuadorian nationals
and has engaged in preliminary talks on revising the treaty.

The GOE is a strong supporter of regional cooperation, and has
signed bilateral counternarcotics agreements with Colombia, Cuba
and the United States, as well as the Summit of Americas money
laundering initiative, and the Organization of American States/Anti-Drug
Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD) document on a hemispheric
anti-drug strategy. Ecuador is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention,
and has a narcotics law that implements the provisions of that
treaty. 

Cultivation/Production. The GOE continues to be vigilant
about preventing illicit cultivation and processing activities.
No evidence of large scale, illicit drug cultivation in Ecuador
surfaced in 1998. 

Drug Flow/Transit. Ecuador remains a major transit route
for unrefined cocaine base shipped by air and overland from northern
Peru to southern Colombia for processing, and for refined cocaine
hydrochloride moved from Colombia through Ecuador's still inadequately
monitored ports to U.S. and European markets. Colombian traffickers
also export heroin through Ecuador and use Ecuador to import essential
chemicals, which are then smuggled into Colombia for drug processing.
A recent change to this pattern has been the reported emergence
of cocaine producing laboratories within Ecuador. The GOE is counteracting
those efforts through a tailored strategy including the development
and placement of checkpoints along the highways, canine searches
at ports of entry/exit, preparation for an air intercept policy,
assessment and training of port personnel, and the inauguration
of a Joint Information Coordination Center. 

Demand Reduction. The last national survey by CONSEP showed
drug use in Ecuador to be relatively low. CONSEP has made drug
rehabilitation a high priority. CONSEP hosted and coordinated
two drug rehabilitation courses by a U.S. based company contracted
by the U.S. State Department. Sixty attendees from private and
governmental facilities throughout the country benefited from
the training. All public institutions, including the military,
are required to establish drug prevention programs in the workplace.
However, there is little evidence of compliance with this requirement.
The Procurador General, who served as President of the National
Drug Council, was successful in obtaining legislation that allows
small-time consumers to be sent to rehabilitation clinics instead
of jail. This would in principle free up the courts and prosecutors
to deal with more serious narcotics cases, but judges are carefully
reviewing each of the petitions for release of those already arrested
to ensure that true traffickers are not set free under this new
law. 

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 

USG counternarcotics policy in Ecuador seeks to bolster the political
will of the GOE to address the narcotics trafficking problem in
Ecuador. The USG works to build the institutional capability of
the GOE to target major narcotics trafficking organizations and
to effectively prosecute drug kingpins. American Embassy officials
accompanied high-ranking Ecuadorian civilian and military authorities
to the final meeting of United Counterdrugs 98 in the United States.

Ecuador is one of seven countries participating in the U.S. Customs
Americas Counter Smuggling Initiative (ACSI). This initiative
is designed to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement officers
in their efforts to deter narcotics smuggling in commercial cargo
shipments and conveyances by enhancing private sector security
programs at manufacturing and export facilities in high threat
narcotics source and transit countries. Additionally, the initiative
seeks to assist GOE law enforcement agencies to improve their
counternarcotics effectiveness and develop industry partnerships
with the private sector. Prior to the introduction of ACSI in
Ecuador, U.S. Customs in 1998 conducted Industry Partnership Program
training and seccurity surveys in Guayaquil and Quito for private
companies involved in the manufacturing, export, and commercial
transportation industries. 

To address issues relating to the vulnerability of Ecuadorian
ports, the American Embassy is working with U.S. Customs and the
State Department to obtain the assignment of a U.S. Customs inspector
to Ecuador. 

During the year, Ecuadorian police who had demonstrated outstanding
performance in their jobs were brought to the U.S. to work with
narcotics and Customs police there, thus receiving exposure to
U.S. federal and state police methods. As a result of these visits,
state police agencies have sent badly needed equipment to their
Ecuadorian counterparts. In addition, three Ecuadorian officials
attended an OAS-funded Regional Port Security Course in Lima during
October 1998. Four Ecuadorian officials, two from the Ecuador
National Police and two from the new Ecuador Customs Cooperation,
attended an INL-funded U.S. Customs Mid-Management Seminar in
Miami during December 1998. 

The American Embassy has met with the acting chief prosecutor
with a view toward establishing a special task force that will
pursue corruption crimes with the Ecuadorian government via counternarcotics
bilateral agreements with the national police. 

Under the mandate of the USG as chair of the Latin American region
of the Dublin Group (countries that meet to coordinate international
counternarcotics assistance), the American Embassy has formed
a very active "mini-Dublin" law enforcement sub-group
that coordinates equipment donations, policy and enforcement support
strategies among theU.S., British, UNDCP, French and German embassies.

The American Embassy has signed an agreement with the Ecuadorian
Air Force that allows sharing of data from their radar. 

The Road Ahead. The USG will continue to work closely with
the GOE on counternarcotics efforts. We will seek enhanced cooperation
on control of chemical diversion, money laundering and interdiction,
particularly shipments of narcotics through Ecuador's seaports.
Bringing the new JICC up to speed will be a high priority. We
expect the GOE will examine its police/prosecutor relationship
and make changes that allow for case investigations that result
in a higher level of convictions. To facilitate aggressive money
laundering investigations, a joint task force concept, similar
to the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network (FinCEN), would be an ideal step. 

[end of document]

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