The United States and Ecuador formalized a Letter of Implementation in Quito to launch the so-called “Secure Border Strategy”, a bilateral cooperation plan that seeks to strengthen control in bordering areas against the advance of drug trafficking, arms trafficking and other activities of transnational organized crime.

The agreement was signed between the Office of Anti-Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US government and authorities from the Ministry of the Interior of Ecuador, the Ministry of Defense of Ecuador and the National Customs Service of Ecuador (SENAE). The project will initially be implemented in the province of Carchi, on the northern border with Colombia.

Lawrence Petroni, head of the United States mission in Ecuador, participated during the ceremony; John Reimberg, Minister of the Interior; Gian Carlo Loffredo, Minister of Defense; and Sandro Castillo, director of SENAE, who highlighted the need for a coordinated response to criminal networks that operate without respecting borders.

Pilot project in Carchi and operational cooperation

According to the authorities, the strategy includes joint actions between the armed forces, police, customs and immigration, as well as technical assistance, training and exchange of information with the United States. The pilot plan will have an initial duration of two years and seeks to become a model that can be replicated in other strategic areas of the country.

Interior Minister John Reimberg noted that borders represent the first line of defense of any State and stressed that the agreement marks important progress towards sustainable solutions to transnational threats. He added that the initiative responds to the need to strengthen the operational capacity of the State in the face of the increase in illicit activities.

For his part, the Minister of Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo, warned that the extensive northern border, with more than 700 kilometers and dozens of uncontrolled crossings, has been used by criminal networks for the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people. According to him, between 70% and 80% of the cocaine produced in southern Colombia enters Ecuador through that area.

From Washington, Lawrence Petroni highlighted that organized crime constitutes a hemispheric threat that impacts both Ecuador and the United States, which is why he considered strengthening bilateral cooperation to be key.

The United States Embassy in Ecuador stressed that the project responds to previously identified operational needs and is not linked to electoral processes in the region. Ecuadorian authorities, for their part, stated that the border has been used for years as a logistics corridor by criminal organizations, which requires a joint and sustained response.