Ecuador’s army detained a truck driver named Byron Ch. after soldiers found 530 kg of marijuana hidden in a false compartment of his white truck in Huaca canton, Carchi, on the border with Colombia.[1][2] Soldiers stopped the truck at a control for weapons, ammunition and explosives in the Huaca canton and found a double bottom hiding packages of a greenish vegetable substance, presumed to be marijuana.[1][2] The armed forces said the load amounted to about 530 kilograms, packed in 77 large white sacks, 18 large black bags, one medium white bag, four medium black bags and 94 small black bags.[1]

The military considered Byron Ch. a medium-value target for his suspected links to criminal networks operating along the Ecuador–Colombia border.[1][2] The detainee and the drugs were taken to a military outpost and then handed over to police and judicial authorities.[1][2] Prosecutors said soldiers patrolling near the fuel-station sector of Huaca saw a white truck heading south to north and noticed the driver’s nervousness when they identified him.[3] The truck and driver were taken to the Carchi subzone anti-drug investigation unit, where 194 packages of different sizes wrapped in plastic were removed.[3] A preliminary field identification test confirmed the substance was marijuana weighing 530.5 kilograms.[3]

A criminal judge in Tulcán ordered pretrial detention for Byron Ch. on charges of large-scale trafficking in controlled substances and froze his savings and credit accounts.[3] The judge also imposed asset measures immobilising savings and credit accounts in the suspect’s name.[3] Prosecutors said the crime carries a prison sentence of 22 to 26 years under the Código Orgánico Integral Penal, Ecuador’s criminal code.[3] Prosecutors opened a 30-day pre-trial investigation in the case.[3]

The seizure came amid a dispute between Ecuador and Colombia over border security and trade, after President Daniel Noboa imposed a 30 percent security levy on Colombian imports in January and tariffs later rose to 50 percent.[1][2]

Ecuador’s armed forces said the operation was a CAMEX weapons control carried out through the Bloque de Seguridad, the joint security bloc, and that a citizen was apprehended.[1]