Ecuador’s Security Crisis: Drug Cartels Exploit Banana Export Industry for Cocaine Trafficking

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As men traverse the expansive plantations located between Ecuador’s temperate Pacific coast and its imposing Andean mountains, they are tasked with harvesting countless clusters of green bananas from towering plants.

These bunches are then transported to assembly lines, where workers clean, weigh, and label the bananas for European markets. Franklin Torres, the plantation owner, keeps a watchful eye to ensure not only that the fruit meets international cosmetic standards but also that the shipments are devoid of cocaine.

Ecuador finds itself at the intersection of two contrasting yet mutually influential global markets: bananas and cocaine. Being the world’s leading exporter of bananas, dispatching approximately 6.5 million metric tons annually, Ecuador is uniquely situated between Peru and Colombia—two of the largest cocaine-producing countries. This geography makes banana shipments an attractive means for drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine.

The infiltration of the drug trade into an industry that accounts for roughly 30% of the world’s banana supply has led to an unprecedented surge in violence across Ecuador. Criminal activities such as shootings, kidnappings, and extortions have escalated, particularly in the Pacific port city of Guayaquil, a key hub for banana exports.

According to Dalia Chang, a 59-year-old vendor and lifelong resident of Guayaquil, the proliferation of the cocaine trade implicates everyone, from those who transport it to those who consume it. “The entire community bears the responsibility. Our country has been devastated,” she stated.

The assassination of Fernado Villavicencio, a presidential candidate known for his strict stance on organized crime and corruption, has sent shockwaves across the nation. Villavicencio had publicly accused the Ecuadorian gang Los Choneros, and its incarcerated leader with ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, of issuing threats against him shortly before his death.

Contributing to Ecuador’s attractiveness for cartels are its use of the U.S. dollar, weak laws, vulnerable institutions, and existing gang networks, such as Los Choneros. Additionally, Ecuador has gained importance in global cocaine trafficking due to shifts in Colombian politics and the disbandment of Colombian rebel group FARC in 2016.

In 2021, 2,304 metric tons of cocaine were produced globally, primarily in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Approximately a third of the cocaine seized in Western and Central Europe that year originated from Ecuador, as per a United Nations report. The frequency of large-scale drug busts involving banana shipments from Ecuador has increased notably.

Various stakeholders in the banana supply chain, whether knowingly or otherwise, provide loopholes for drug traffickers to exploit. Front companies mimicking legitimate banana exporters have been created, and existing companies have been bought or coerced into complicity. Law enforcement and port personnel are frequently bribed or intimidated to turn a blind eye to illegal activities.

Violent deaths in Ecuador doubled from 2021 to 2022, recording an all-time high of 4,600 fatalities. In the first half of 2023 alone, 3,568 violent deaths have been registered, indicating that the annual record is likely to be broken again. Cocaine seizures have also risen exponentially, totaling 77.4 metric tons in 2022, more than threefold the amount seized in 2020.

Security measures at Ecuadorian ports remain insufficient. No more than 30% of containers are manually inspected or checked by drug-sniffing dogs. Plans to implement container scanners have been delayed, although officials aim to operationalize these by mid-2024.

The dire circumstances have led Franklin Torres and others in the industry to call for stronger regulations that can revoke the exporting privileges of companies found to be repeatedly tied to drug trafficking. “It’s disheartening to see a product as exceptional as our bananas become tainted in this manner,” Torres lamented.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Ecuador’s banana and cocaine trade