Cuenca police raid seven homes in Operativo Etsa and hold 16 people
Azuay prosecutors and police searched seven homes in Cuenca on 27 March 2013 during Operativo Etsa, detaining 16 people linked to theft and drug sales around El Arenal market and the Feria Libre. They seized 900 grams of marijuana, cocaine base, cash, vehicle parts and radios; a judge ordered preventive detention for all 16 the next day.
From 10:00 to 21:00 on Wednesday 27 March 2013, five prosecutors and about 70 Ecuadorian National
Police officers searched seven homes in Cuenca during Operativo Etsa.[1]The Fiscalía Provincial
del Azuay said the targets were three groups involved in robberies, vehicle-part theft, organised
crime and drug dealing around El Arenal market and the Feria Libre fairground.[1][2]
Seizures and detention
Police detained 16 people and seized evidence including 900 grams of marijuana, cocaine base, cash,
vehicle engine parts and radios.[1][2]Prosecutor Mateo Ríos said a month of undercover work had
yielded videos and photographs used in court.[2]On 28 March Judge Sonia Cárdenas held a flagrancy
hearing and ordered preventive detention for all 16 on drug-trafficking charges.[2]The
Fiscalía’s bulletins name no further court outcome.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Ecuador's National Police stopped an interprovincial bus at the Km 24 circuit and found 4,153 grams of marijuana hidden in a passenger's backpack. A Colombian man identified as the luggage's owner was detained and placed at the disposal of the judicial authority.
Ecuadorian army troops searched a house at the entrance to Monterrey, in La Concordia canton, and found about 100 grams of a greenish substance believed to be marijuana, along with cocaine, 140 rounds of 9 mm ammunition and a homemade revolver. No one was arrested and the army did not identify the owners of the house.
Police arrested Linder Antonio Q. G., known as alias “Titán,” in Santo Domingo on 4 November 2026 during an operation linked to alleged weapons and drug distribution. Authorities reported marijuana and firearms among the evidence, but accounts disagree on the amount seized and the arrest date.
Judicial Police officers raided two properties in El Inca and La Morita, Quito, on the night of 16 September and early on 17 September, arrested six people including a 17-year-old, and seized 11 kg of cannabis, 500 g of cocaine base and a revolver. Police linked the group to Los Lobos.
