Ecuador destroys record cocaine seizure with UN method

Ecuadorian authorities have standardized a method to destroy drugs which allows them to keep up with the recent increase in seizures. The load destroyed on Friday is part of a record seizure made on Sunday of almost nine tons of cocaine found in a banana container bound to Belgium, worth of 330 million dollars.

The method, known as encapsulation, was recommended by the local program of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, as a guidance that allows them to speed up the destruction, which otherwise would take them longer, saving also storage space.

Edmundo Mera, Undersecretary for Drug Control of the Ministry of the Interior, said they have been working with the method since 2018 but now have fully adopted it to neutralize some narcotics. Drug seizures have almost doubled during the past two years. In 2020, police seized a total of 128 tons of drugs, a significantly lower figure than the 210 tons seized in 2022.