THE 10 MOST COMMON ILLICIT ACTIVITIES IN ECUADOR - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Among the most common and lucrative illegal activities in Ecuador we can find drug trafficking, corruption, smuggling, among others. They are activities punishable by national and international law.

Despite the multiple efforts made by the government of Ecuador to prevent scourges such as drug trafficking from taking place, this country continues to be a mandatory transit point for mafias that need to move supplies such as coca base from Colombia to Peru.

Submarine for drug trafficking in Ecuador.

On the other hand, other illicit activities such as money laundering, corruption, deforestation, labor exploitation and even human trafficking and smuggling emerge from drug trafficking.

Corruption is one of the greatest scourges that Ecuador must fight, since multiple international agents speak of a culture of impunity in the country.

For this reason, corruption encompasses all levels of power, including politicians, the military, and the police.

Most common illegal activities in Ecuador

1- Drug trafficking

Drug trafficking in Ecuador is not as strong as it does in its neighboring countries (Colombia and Peru).

However, it is believed that it has proliferated in recent years, involving actors of all kinds, including the civilian population and some members of the military and political force.

Ecuador is a territory in which coca cultivation is minimal (only 100 hectares of the national territory).

These crops belong mostly to the Colombian guerrilla of the FARC. In this way, the country does not have to deal with the scourge of violence that stems from crop protection.

However, the biggest problem derived from drug trafficking that Ecuador must face is related to the trafficking of “white gasoline”, a chemical necessary for the production of coca.

It is estimated that each year more than 400 thousand gallons of this chemical are transported through Ecuador. This is how it can be affirmed that Ecuador is not a drug-producing country, but it is an obligatory point of passage for the transport of drugs (Córdoba, 2009).

2- Money laundering

This illegal activity is largely derived from the previous one. Thanks to drug trafficking, illegal money enters Ecuadorian territory or is produced directly in it. These monies are laundered in the Ecuadorian system once they enter it.

The total value of money laundered in Ecuador cannot be estimated each year, since a part of this money is held in different places before fully entering the country.

However, it is believed that each year between 500 and 1,000 million dollars can be laundered from drug trafficking in Ecuador.

Generally this money is laundered as an investment within Ecuadorian territory or is sent as remittances to different recipients outside the country. Generally, large amounts of money are fractioned to avoid attracting attention.

3- Corruption

Corruption is a serious problem in Ecuador. For this reason, in 2014, the United States Department of State indicated that one of the causes for which human rights are most frequently violated in Ecuador is corruption.

The majority of processes and initiatives against corruption in Ecuador remain unpunished, which is why it is said that impunity is already part of the country's culture. This is because corruption encompasses all branches of the country's political, judicial, military and police power.

It is believed that many of the richest banks and individuals in the country have accounts outside Ecuadorian territory, having "institutionalized" this protocol to handle double accounting or hide the money from bribes.

It is estimated that $ 2 trillion is lost each year to corruption in Ecuador (Pike, 2017).

4- Tree felling

Illegal deforestation in Ecuador is a worrying issue. Every year, approximately 66,000 hectares of forest are cleared, the vast majority illegally and with poor management of the land and its resources.

The reason this happens is because the market for wood, especially rare woods, in South America is highly lucrative.

This is how the product that is obtained illegally in Ecuador can be sold in the markets of Brazil and Peru (Cawley, 2013).

5- Violation of worker rights

In Ecuador, it is common to see cases of violation of worker rights, mainly when indigenous labor is hired.

In this way, international human rights treaties are violated and local laws dedicated to protecting workers with reasonable hours and compensation for the provision of their services are violated (Watch, 2002).

6- Poaching

In Ecuador every year numerous species of animals are hunted, including some that are in danger of extinction. This hunt is given to feed another illicit activity known as the trafficking of exotic species.

The country has more than 600 environmental guards located in more than 48 protected areas to take care that this phenomenon does not take place, since according to Ecuadorian law, the only people who can legally hunt fish and some mammals and birds are the towns indigenous people from the area (Comercio, 2016).

7- Wildlife trafficking

Interpol has estimated that each year in Ecuador exotic species are traded for a value of 5 to 20 billion dollars.

This means that the illegal trade of species is one of the most profitable businesses in the country. However, this activity threatens the existence and preservation of biodiversity.

Despite the efforts and initiatives of the government to control this problem, each year the numbers of species trafficking increase, with birds being the most commonly trafficked to be sold as pets (Ambiente, 2013).

8- Human trafficking

This is one of the biggest problems that the government of Ecuador has to face, since the country lacks the resources to completely eliminate human trafficking.

Ecuador is currently on the list of countries that do not fully comply with regulations to prevent human trafficking, along with countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Brazil (Vivero, 2016).

9- Smuggling

Smuggling in Ecuador is a common illicit activity mainly on the borders with Colombia and Peru.

Every year millions of technological devices are brought into the country, including telephones, computers, tablets and televisions, which are sold on the black market without any type of payment for taxes and import duties.

In this way, every year more bands appear dedicated to bringing merchandise to the country at a lower cost than is achieved within it.

10- Counterfeiting

The falsification of official documents in Ecuador is a common phenomenon. It is estimated that approximately 30% of the country's population has not yet renewed their identity card and that, within these people, there are multiple individuals who circulate carrying false documents that are received by most institutions as if they were legitimate.

This represents a serious problem for the State, which each year has to deal with numerous cases of identity theft and does not have the mechanisms to protect its citizens when this happens.

References

1. Environment, M. d. (2013). Report on the illegal trafficking of species in Continental Ecuador in 2013.
2. Cawley, M. (November 25, 2013). InSight Crime. Obtained from Ecuador Deforestation Spurred by Illegal Logging: insightcrime.org.
3. Comercio, E. (January 5, 2016). Obtained from How is illegal hunting handled in Ecuador ?: elcomercio.com.
4. Córdoba, CE (2009). Polemika. Obtained from A silent threat: drug trafficking in Ecuador: magazines.usfq.edu.ec.
5. Pike, J. (2017). Global Security. Obtained from Ecuador - Corruption: globalsecurity.org.
6. Vivero, M. (July 1, 2016). Trade. Obtained from Ecuador, it is still a source, transit and destination country for trafficking, according to the United States: elcomercio.com.
7. Watch, HR (April 24, 2002). Humans Rights Watch. Obtained from Ecuador: Widespread Labor Abuse on Banana Plantations: hrw.org.