Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa has ordered a broad military and police offensive against illegal mines that authorities say are controlled by drug cartels and other criminal networks linked to international trafficking. The operations have been carried out mainly in the provinces of Imbabura, Zamora-Chinchipe and Azuay, areas known for the illegal exploitation of gold, copper and coltan - a rare mineral used in the electronics and military industries.
According to Reuters reports, the military has blown up and closed dozens of illegal mining tunnels, while the actions have been followed by explosions on bridges and acts of revenge by criminal groups. Authorities believe that some of these structures were used as conduits for laundering money earned from cocaine trafficking, a problem that has turned Ecuador into one of the main trafficking centers in Latin America.
President Noboa has described the situation as an “internal armed conflict,” declaring 22 criminal groups as “non-state armed actors” and authorizing the use of the military on the ground to restore order and economic sovereignty.
International sources and local media have long reported the presence of Albanian mafia structures in Ecuador, mainly in cocaine trafficking and money laundering through banana exporting companies. An Ecuadorian media investigation revealed that several companies registered by Albanian citizens were used as a “cover” for drug exports to Europe.
In January of this year, an Ecuadorian court convicted eight people in a case involving $43 million laundered through schemes linked to Albanian networks, while well-known figures such as Dritan Gjika, called by the press "the head of the Albanian mafia in Ecuador", have been identified as part of these networks.
Although there is no public evidence directly linking the Albanian mafia to illegal mining, authorities do not rule out the possibility that these structures are being used as a new source of money laundering for international drug trafficking networks.
