Reuters-. Ecuador seized some 9.6 tons of cocaine with a commercial value of about 450 million dollars that was hidden in a house in the city of Guayaquil, in the largest seizure made in the Andean countryauthorities said.
The police found the drug hidden in 157 lumps behind a false wall of a building whose facade was the sale of bottles of water in the north of Guayaquil, the largest city in the country. In addition, ten firearms and more than 2,800 large-caliber ammunition were found..
“The alkaloid was destined for the United States and Mexico, with this important police execution it is possible to remove from the illegal market around 450 million dollarsPolice said in a statement released late on Friday.
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The transfer of the drug was intended to be carried out in part by air from clandestine tracks identified in the vicinity of Guayaquil and another through the city’s seaports, the police added.
Two people were arrested in the operation.
“It’s a historic seizure. This operation is very important in our forceful fight against drug trafficking, ”Interior Minister Alexandra Vela wrote on her Twitter account.
The Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office said that, according to the investigations, the case would be related to another seizure registered in July of this year in the same place, where 515 kilograms of drugs were seized and five people were arrested.
Ecuador has seized some 116 tons of drugs so far in 2021, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
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