Ecuadorian police destroy underground bunker and seize 1.5 tons of cocaine near Manta
Police in Ecuador used explosives to demolish a hidden underground site near Manta, confiscating 1,353 cocaine packages weighing about 1.5 tons during a night curfew.
In a night-time raid coinciding with a recently introduced curfew, Ecuadorian police blew open an underground bunker near the port city of Manta. The explosion revealed 1,353 packages of cocaine concealed in 55 trash bags, amounting to about 1.5 tons of the drug. Interior Minister John Reimberg reported that the hidden facility was fully destroyed after the operation.
The curfew, imposed in several provinces by President Daniel Noboa's government, aims to intensify the fight against organized crime, and has already resulted in 150 arrests within its first two days. The seizure follows earlier interdictions, including a more than two-ton haul at the Machala port bound for Sweden and a Hamburg case involving banana-laden containers. Officials describe the bust as a serious setback to the financial and structural foundations of regional cocaine trafficking.
Why it matters
The bust disrupts a major cocaine transit route and shows the government's aggressive anti-drug strategy.
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