The Ecuadorian state shipping company clarified that US authorities did not find drugs in any of its ships

In Long Beach, CaliforniaUS federal agents arrested a crew member of the tanker pichinchaSince Public company Ecuadorian oil fleet (Flopec). The first information about the case came to light thanks to the dissemination of an e-mail from a US Marine. The communication read: “The crew member has been arrested for possession of illegal drugs.”

The 10-year-old vessel Pichincha is one of five vessels in charge of Flopec. The ship can carry up to 690,000 barrels of oil and sails the following routes: Port of Balao in Ecuador, Port of Armuelles in Panama and Port of San Francisco in California.

The arrest took place on March 9, but was made public last Wednesday. According to a statement released by Flopec, The crew member was arrested while on the ground, but “due to lack of evidence” US agents released him. However, US authorities ordered her deportation on the same ship that arrived in California. The crew member has re-boarded the ship and will arrive in Ecuador on March 22: “At this time, the crew member has been relieved of his duties on board and is being transported as a passenger and remains in his cabin, with the necessary assistance to cover their basic needs until their arrival at the port of Esmeraldas”.

Flopec also indicated that “considering that the police authority of UNITED STATES released the crew member due to lack of sufficient evidence and that, due to his deportation and prohibition to enter the United States for a period of 10 years, he is unable to carry out international transport activities “, of which the public company will analyze the permanence of the crew member.

In the official bulletin, the state shipping company assured that to “mitigate the vulnerability of the company’s ships and personnel”, it seeks to implement and constantly update itself, including “improvements in procedures related to the protection of inspectors in charge” of ships.

The shipping company said that before the departure of the ships, Flopec coordinates, with the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the National Police, the inspection before departure to international ports and upon arrival in vulnerable ports.

Flopec is a public hydrocarbon maritime transport company, which aims to be the first maritime hydrocarbon transport company on the American Pacific coast until 2030.

The ports of Ecuador and drugs

The State Department American had already identified Ecuador as an attractive country for drug trafficking due to drug shipping routes to countries in North America and Europe. Although Ecuador is not considered a producing country, it is It is located between the two largest cocaine producers: Colombia to the north and Peru to the south.

Ecuador is located in one of the key countries for the trafficking of cocaine from America to different destinations in the world. Besides, it’s the Third country in the world with the most cocaine seized. This is revealed by the latest report from the United Nations Office on Drugs (Unodc), which details and analyzes the global behavior of the drug trafficking market.

Between 2016 and 2020, the greatest amount of cocaine trafficking took place through “well-known routes”. The shipments passed through Colombia, along the Pacific coast and to Central America or Mexico, before arriving in the United States. Shipments were also made from seaports to send the drugs to Europe or West Africa. As the report indicates, Traffic flows also depart from the Andean region to other local markets in South America, including Brazil and Argentina.

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