293 marijuana packs seized in Esmeraldas pickup; driver held
Police stopped a pickup in Camarones, Esmeraldas, on 22 January 2023 and seized 293 packages of marijuana weighing 438.8 kg. The driver, identified only as Erick S., was detained and placed at the disposal of the judicial authority.
Police detained a man on the morning of Sunday 22 January 2023 in an operation
in the Camarones sector on the E15 highway north of Esmeraldas.[1]The driver
was travelling in a pickup truck and tried to evade the police checkpoint before
several police units stopped him.[1]Police identified the detained man only
as Erick S.[1]He was placed at the disposal of the judicial authority, as
stated by Joffre López, chief of tactical operations of the Esmeraldas police
subzone.[1]
Police found that the man had 293 packages of substances subject to inspection.[1]The packages were camouflaged in the trunk of a pickup truck.[1]Testing
showed the load was positive for marijuana and weighed 438,800 grams.[1]Infobae described the same weekend seizure as 293 packages of marijuana in a
pickup trunk in Esmeraldas, equivalent to 438,800 grams.[2]
Police said the drugs had apparently come from somewhere on the northern border
for distribution inside the country.[1]Esmeraldas is the Ecuadorian province
that borders Colombia.[2]
Photos and video
Blocks of marijuana found in the trunk of the pickup in Camarones, Esmeraldas. Photo: El UniversoPhoto details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Cannabis
438.8 kg
Agency
Ecuador National Police
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (438.8 kg)
Activity
Trafficking
Setting
Vehicle
Case stage
Under investigation
Region
Esmeraldas
Sources
El Universoeluniverso.comESUn hombre fue detenido por transportar 293 paquetes de marihuana en la cajuela de una camioneta
Infobaeinfobae.comESEcuador: decomisaron 924 paquetes de cocaína en un contenedor de latas de atún que se dirigía al Reino Unido
Open questions the AI reported
No charge, custody ruling, trial or sentence for the detained man was reported; he was only described as placed at the disposal of the judicial authority.
No street value, package size, vehicle ownership or exact checkpoint location beyond Camarones on the E15 was published.
The same articles also report separate cocaine seizures in Guayaquil ports and a separate 350-package marijuana seizure the previous Thursday; those are different events left out of this cannabis report.
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.
Ecuador's National Police seized 26 grams of marijuana from a Quito-to-Manta parcel at Manta's bus terminal on 30 October 2026 after detector dog CUMI alerted. No one was detained; prosecutors opened an inquiry into the sender and recipient.
Ecuador's National Police seized 535.03 kg of marijuana, packed in 350 rectangular parcels, from an SUV in San Miguel de Ibarra and arrested the driver, named in one report as Jorge M. The force valued the load at more than US$414,000 on the domestic market.
