U.S. Treasury Sanctions Ecuadorian Fishing Vessels for Aiding Smugglers

One of 10 sanctioned Ecuadorian fishing vessels based out of Manta (U.S. Treasury)

The U.S government is moving to cripple the operations of Ecuadorian drug trafficking cartels by imposing sanctions on individuals, entities and fishing vessels that are at the heart of a complex drug-running ring in the Pacific.

Though it produces little of the drug itself, Ecuador has emerged as a launchpad for shipping cocaine from Colombia and Peru. Two violent cartels that have both been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S., Ecuador's Los Choneros and splinter group Los Lobos, are said to work with Mexican cartels to smuggle the drugs into the U.S.

The link between the cartels is a fleet of large fishing vessels that appear to conduct legitimate activity, but are in fact actively involved in cocaine trafficking. To respond, the Treasury is imposing sanctions on 15 Ecuadorian citizens and companies and 10 fishing vessels for their alleged roles in the drug trade. Most of the individuals targeted in the sanctions are affiliated to the Los Choneros and Los Lobos cartels.

According to the U.S Treasury, certain fishing vessels operating out of the busy tuna-fleet hub of Manta, Ecuador, use their commercial cover to support narcotics networks. The vessels are the key link between cartels in Ecuador and Mexico for secret transfers of cocaine to the go-fast vessels that transit north through the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The roles of the fishing vessels goes beyond transporting the drugs: they are also responsible for refueling the go-fast boats at coordinated locations and supplying smugglers with food and medical services. Also, by disguising as fishing vessels, they also play the role of detecting and monitoring law enforcement vessels and sending alerts to the cartels. Some of the vessels are alleged to have coordinated the movement of 30-40 tonnes of cocaine every month from Ecuador to Central America and Mexico. From that point, the drugs are transferred overland by Mexican cartels for movement across the U.S. southern border, Treasury claimed. The Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion are responsible for moving the drugs to U.S. consumer markets. (Traditionally, a share of the Eastern Pacific cocaine flow is smuggled into commercial containerized freight and moved from Mexico or Central America to Europe, Australia and other overseas markets; Treasury emphasized a northbound flow to the U.S.)

The action adds to a long list of over 300 entities hit with sanctions since the beginning of the Trump administration, the latest salvos in the 50-year mission to combat cocaine smuggling in America's near abroad.