Ecuador will share information with the European Center to curb drug trafficking
The government of Daniel Noboa hopes that the alliance will also facilitate the fight against money laundering and the trafficking of weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
Ecuador agreed to exchange information with a European center specializing in combating drug trafficking, as the government seeks support from the European Union and the United States to confront numerous cartels, the Ministry of Defense reported on Monday.
Based in Lisbon since 2007, the International Operational Center for Intelligence Analysis The Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations Command (MAOC-N) brings together police, customs agents, and military personnel from countries such as France, Spain, Great Britain, Colombia, and Brazil. The joint effort contributes “to counter-narcotics operations, with an emphasis on the Gulf of Guayaquil, and to the reduction of illicit flows to the European Union and other destinations,” the Ministry of Defense stated in a press release. With support from the European Union, an intelligence post was also inaugurated in Guayaquil, a hub of operations for criminal groups. Maritime and Port Intelligence: “Here, the most important advantage is built: anticipating, making better decisions, and acting more effectively,” said Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo during the event. Personnel from the Ecuadorian National Police and Navy will work there on maritime and port intelligence operations, key to dismantling the structures of drug trafficking” operating in the area, according to the ministry.
Ecuador is crucial in the international drug distribution chain due to its strategic location as an exit point for Colombian and Peruvian cocaine sold in the black markets of Europe and the United States.
In recent years, the nation has become the most coveted corridor in the Pacific. In 2025, the country seized some 227 tons of drugs, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior.
President Daniel Noboa is implementing a hardline policy by the authorities and cooperating with world powers to subdue the gangs that sow terror in the country.
Ecuador ended 2025 with a record homicide rate of nearly 52 per 100,000 inhabitants.
according to preliminary calculations by the Organized Crime Observatory.