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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2014 
TAGS: SNAR PTER PREL MOPS EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR: 2007 TRENDS IN COUNTER-NARCOTICS 
 
REF: A. 07 QUITO 2570 
 
     ¶B. 07 QUITO 2233 
     ¶C. 07 QUITO 2434 
 
Classified By: DCM Jefferson Brown, Reasons 1.4 (b&d) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Under the Correa administration, the GOE 
has taken a tougher stance on combating narcotrafficking by 
implementing new policies and programs and by increasing its 
police and military operations.  Ecuador's border regions, 
especially in the North, remain vulnerable to the transit of 
drugs, and the discovery of drug-producing labs in 2007 is a 
disturbing new trend in drug activity.  Responding to higher 
levels of maritime seizures in recent years, drug traffickers 
are changing their tactics, resorting to alternative methods 
of transport, including by air and in liquid form, while also 
increasing their quantities per shipment.  While total 
seizures by the GOE decreased slightly, land-based seizures 
hit record levels.  Embassy Quito continued to support the 
GOE's counter-narcotics efforts and, after initial 
uncertainty about what might ensue under the Correa 
government, has experienced improved counter-narcotics 
cooperation under the current administration.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Since taking office a year ago, President Correa 
has demonstrated a strong commitment to combating 
narcotrafficking and, in tandem with an anti-corruption 
campaign, has introduced several new policy initiatives. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The GOE has increased its police and military 
operations, and bilateral cooperation with the U.S. mission 
has also improved under the Correa administration.  At the 
direction of the President, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces 
significantly increased the number of operations conducted in 
the Northern Border region (Ref A).  The Ecuadorian military 
conducted a total of 17 battalion-sized operations in 2007 
(compared to just ten in 2006), a third of which occurred in 
the last 45 days of the year and are continuing into 2008. 
The Ecuadorian military also destroyed 47 FARC camps, and 
eradicated 36 hectares of coca.  The Ecuadorian Navy received 
an unprecedented $40 million in funding by decree from 
President Correa to strengthen controls over illegal 
activities in Ecuadorian waters, and has also established 
operations centers in Guayaquil and in the Galapagos. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The National Drug Council (CONSEP) is implementing 
changes to improve the agency's drug abuse prevention 
programs and the management and disposal of seized assets. 
Shortly after taking office, Correa appointed the previous 
Director of the Antinarcotics Police directorate (DNA) as 
Commanding General of the National Police, which has helped 
give anti-narcotics higher visibility. The GOE's postal 
service approached the Embassy for support and we are now 
collaborating to help equip and train them in 
counternarcotics technologies.  The GOE has also asked for 
more USG support in strengthening port security, specifically 
with more scanning equipment. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) These increased efforts contributed to the 
discovery and destruction of three cocaine producing labs, 
the destruction of coca plants at two locations and the 
confiscation of weapons and go-fast vessels, communications 
equipment and other auxiliary equipment.  Total seizures by 
the GOE in 2007 were 21.82 metric tons (mt) of cocaine, 188 
kilograms (kg) of heroin and 744 kg of cannabis.  In 2006, 
the GOE had seized 38.16 mt of cocaine, 410 kg of heroin, and 
1,110 kg of cannabis.  While overall seizures of cocaine were 
down from 2006 to 2007, due in large part to traffickers 
using new methods, seizures by the DNA on land (13.2 mt) far 
exceeded the amount in previous years. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Traffickers appear to be shifting strategies in 
response to the high level of maritime seizures in previous 
years, such as the transportation of cocaine in liquid form 
and in higher quantities, as well as alternative transport 
methods, such as by air and in low profile vessels, atypical 
of the traditional maritime routes.  For example, in April 
2007, a maritime seizure found 7.75 mt of cocaine suspended 
in liquid and hidden under a layer of diesel in the fuel 
tanks of a fishing vessel, the largest such seizure on 
record.  In July 2007, the DNA seized 5.56 mt of cocaine, a 
record, at a shrimp farm near Guayaquil.  In October 2007, 
the DNA seized 3.785 mt of cocaine in Esmeraldas which would 
have been flown to Mexico on a Gulf Stream II corporate jet, 
the first known attempt in Ecuador to use aerial transport to 
move a multi-ton load. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ecuador remains a major drug transit country but 
fortunately has not developed a serious demand for 
consumption domestically.  Ecuadorian drug trafficking 
organizations (DTO) continue to be relatively small groups 
that specialize in transportation and are usually linked to 
larger Colombian and Mexican DTOs.  However, as the Colombian 
government has put pressure on narcoterrorist groups, 
especially on the FARC, Colombian DTOs have increased cocaine 
shipments through Ecuador and have begun small-scale drug 
production in Ecuador near its northern border.  Other 
Colombian (non-FARC) and Peruvian DTOs exploit Ecuador's 
southern border for transport to other destinations.  The 
increase in the number of seizures and the quantity of drugs 
captured on land, as well as the discovery of drug producing 
labs, suggest an overall expansion of the drug threat to 
Ecuador and the region. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) USG assistance in 2007 included building new 
counternarcotics facilities, such as a pier at an Ecuadorian 
Marine base (Ref A) and a provincial DNA headquarters (Ref 
B); alternative crop development; helping facilitate the 
military and DNA's mobility and communications abilities; and 
promoting better cooperation between the military and police. 
 The Embassy cooperated with the GOE in the judicial sector 
to produce the first ever automated database of criminal 
cases in Ecuador.  The Embassy continued to support the 
startup of a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the 
formation and training of other police investigative units. 
The Embassy, through its USAID-administered programs, 
continued to support development activities to improve social 
and productive infrastructure and to provide licit employment 
opportunities to habitants in the border areas. DEA 
operations have also continued unimpeded, enjoying similarly 
strong cooperation. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  When the Correa administration came into 
power a year ago, prospects for continued CN cooperation - 
and broader police and military cooperation - were question 
marks.  It turns out that Correa's hard-line disposition on 
national sovereignty matters, as well as what seems to be a 
genuine commitment to curb corruption, have made him a strong 
partner on anti-narcotics/transnational crime - as long as 
the cooperation fits within a carefully framed model of 
partnership and mutuality. 
JEWELL