Driver held with 511 kg of marijuana in fish truck in Esmeraldas
Police stopped a fish truck in San Mateo, Esmeraldas, on 26 March 2023 and seized 511.68 kg of marijuana alongside 2.73 kg of cocaine from a hidden compartment. The driver, Clever Riol A. V., was detained and ordered into pretrial detention for large-scale drug trafficking.
Police stopped a fish-transport truck in San Mateo, Esmeraldas, on the morning
of 26 March 2023 and detained its driver.[1]A judge in Esmeraldas ordered
pretrial detention for the driver, identified as Clever Riol A. V., over alleged
large-scale trafficking of controlled substances.[1]The judge opened a 30-day
preliminary investigation after the flagrancy hearing.[1]The court ordered
the seizure, retention and prohibition on sale of the truck used in the
incident.[1]
Officers found the drugs in a hidden compartment discovered during a detailed
search of the truck.[1]Inside were 524 rectangular packages wrapped in brown
packing tape and black plastic with green plant material, plus three similar
packages with white powder.[1]Weighing and preliminary field tests identified
511,680 grams of marijuana and 2,730 grams of cocaine.[1]Police initially
described the load as 514 kilos of drugs concealed in the rear of the truck.[2]El Comercio reported the packages included both marijuana and cocaine and
that the driver was detained.[2]
Prosecutors are pursuing the case as large-scale trafficking under article 220
of the COIP, which provides for ten to thirteen years of imprisonment.[1]
Photos and video
Police photos of the drugs seized in the three-province operations. Photo: Twitter @CmdtPoliciaEcPhoto details
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Charged
1
Cannabis
511.68 kg
Agency type
Police, Prosecutor, Court
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (511.68 kg)
Activity
Trafficking
Setting
Vehicle
Case stage
Under investigation
Sources
Vistazovistazo.comESEsmeraldas: más de media tonelada de drogas dentro de camión que transportaba pescado; hay un procesado
El Comercioelcomercio.comESDecomisan cargamentos de droga en Guayaquil, Napo y Esmeraldas; hay detenidos
Open questions the AI reported
El Comercio gives a rounded 514 kilos total for the truck while laboratory weighing reported 511,680 grams of marijuana plus 2,730 grams of cocaine; the report uses the separated marijuana weight and excludes the cocaine.
The combined one-million-dose estimate covers marijuana and cocaine together and is therefore excluded from cannabis figures.
No court outcome beyond pretrial detention and the 30-day investigation was reported in the opened sources.
The same El Comercio article also describes separate cocaine-only seizures in Guayaquil and Napo, which are different events left out of this 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.
