Ecuador, once one of the region’s most stable democracies, has in recent years become a major transit hub in the global cocaine trade. This shift has coincided with rising violence and the growing power of drug trafficking networks. Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest coca producing countries, and home to busy Pacific ports, Ecuador now plays a central logistical role in moving cocaine toward markets in the United States and Europe.
Observers trace Ecuador’s involvement in the drug economy to the 1980s, when routes through the country moved Peruvian coca base into Colombian processing sites. The adoption of the United States dollar in 2000 made the economy more attractive to criminal groups because financial transactions became easier to move across borders. In addition, Colombia’s aerial eradication campaigns pushed coca growers and armed groups closer to Ecuador’s northern frontier. Over time, ports in and around Guayaquil became key points for concealing cocaine in outbound commercial shipments, including bananas, one of Ecuador’s largest exports.
Reports from the United Nations and regional research organizations show that Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia remain the primary producers of coca and cocaine, while Ecuador functions mainly as a transit country. Traffickers move shipments across Ecuador’s porous borders from Colombia’s Putumayo region and from northern Peru, then direct them toward coastal areas where international networks take over. Mexican criminal groups, including factions linked to Sinaloa and Jalisco, have been documented as collaborators in some of these operations. Inside Ecuador, local gangs such as Los Choneros and Los Lobos compete for territorial control of ports and trafficking routes, resulting in fierce clashes.
A large share of the cocaine that departs Ecuador is routed to Europe, where demand and seizures have risen in recent years. Major European ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg have reported record confiscations, and law enforcement agencies often identify Ecuador as the point of departure. Although the exact percentage of global shipments that pass through the country is not publicly known, security analysts report a clear and steady increase in volume since 2020.
The impact within Ecuador has been severe. Homicides have risen from single digit rates per 100 thousand residents earlier in the decade to some of the highest figures in Latin America. Gang rivalries have spread through city streets, prisons have seen intense violence, and high profile assassinations have shocked the nation. In response, President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict in 2024 and deployed large numbers of security forces. Even so, corruption and the presence of criminal networks inside state institutions have limited the effectiveness of these efforts.
International dynamics have also shaped Ecuador’s crisis. As the United States has concentrated more resources on confronting fentanyl trafficking, analysts argue that cocaine networks have reorganized and expanded their activities in the Andean region. At the same time, European demand has continued to grow, which provides strong incentives for traffickers to exploit Ecuador’s ports and shipping industry. The country has set records for cocaine seizures, but authorities acknowledge that intercepted quantities represent only a portion of total flows.
Ecuador’s escalating violence highlights the deeply interconnected nature of the modern cocaine economy. Producers in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia supply the drug. Transit countries such as Ecuador move it forward. Criminal intermediaries in Mexico and Europe manage routes and distribution. Consumers in North America and Europe create the demand that sustains the system. For Ecuador, the consequences are immediate and devastating, with communities facing threats from gangs, corrupt officials, and a government struggling to regain control.
Addressing this crisis will require coordinated action among governments throughout the Americas and Europe. Solutions must involve not only interdiction, but also reforms to combat corruption, strengthen port security, improve financial oversight, and reduce the incentives that have made Ecuador an important waypoint in the twenty first century cocaine trade.
Ecuador = Red
Colombia = Orange
Peru = Yellow
Bolivia = Purple
Mexico = Brown
United States = Green
Belgium = Blue
Germany = Dark Green
Netherlands = Light Blue
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