Tuna Seiner With Suspected Links to Drug Trafficking Catches Fire in Manta
A tuna-fishing vessel with suspected links to cocaine smuggling has caught fire at the port of Manta, Ecuador, according to local media.
The vessel Gold Tuna, a 1967-built purse seiner of about 180 feet in length, reported a fire at about 0400 hours on Monday morning. Local firefighters responded to the scene, and the blaze was extinguished in about three hours.
Ecuador's security situation has deteriorated markedly in recent years, and drug-smuggling cartels use the country as a gateway for moving cocaine from Peru and Colombia. The banana-producing region around Guayaquil is a particular hotspot, as it is a hub for containerized cocaine exports bound for Europe, but the violence associated with drug-smuggling crime has expanded throughout the country. The activity has infiltrated maritime traffic, and and Gold Tuna has been attacked by hostile criminals before - perhaps because she is suspected of involvement in crime herself.
Gold Tuna is registered with an Ecuadorian fishing company, but according to local media, she may be linked to an Ecuadorian organized crime group. Police believe that in addition to fishing, she may serve as a floating refueling point for go-fast drug boats on the Ecuador-to-Central America smuggling route.
According to Teleamazonas, Gold Tuna was hit previously in an armed attack. Unknown assailants arrived by boat on January 21, killing the vessel's security guard and planting an explosive device on board. Luckily for the owners, police intervened, and they removed and destroyed the bomb before it went off.
Orlando Briones, a member of the crime family that has been linked to Gold Tuna, was assassinated last month, along with his nephew. His brother Leo Briones Chiquito was killed last July.
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The Briones Chiquito organization, known in Ecuador as Los Lobos, is believed to be a leading participant in the Ecuadorian cocaine transport trade. It is known for its members' violent and deadly riots with rival gangs on the streets and in Ecuador's prison system. It has its roots behind bars, according to Insight Crime, and in the span of a few years it has grown into one of the most prominent smuggling organizations in the country. Los Lobos is sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury, which believes that the group is now the largest trafficking organization in Ecuador.