On the night of 9 October 2026, anti-drug investigators of the Carchi police subzone stopped a car and two motorcycles in the rural parish of Piartal, Montúfar.[1][2] Javier Cobos, the subzone’s anti-drug chief, said three men on the motorcycles appeared to be escorting the car and warning of checkpoints, and that officers chased all three vehicles before arresting the men in the act.[1] El Universo named them Milton M., Rolando R. and Yeferson F., all Colombian.[1] Primicias likewise reported three Colombian nationals held.[3][2]

Inside the car police found marijuana in bulk, in 300 plastic wraps, weighing 303.007 grams.[3][1] The National Police said that was 606,014 doses on the national market.[3][2] They valued it at 234,830.43 US dollars in Ecuador, about 2.74 million dollars on the United States market and about 1.95 million euros in Europe.[3][1][2] Those foreign figures are police estimates.[1] Officers also kept the car, which they said had been reported stolen in Quito, two motorcycles and two phones.[3][1]

Cobos said police believed the load was to be stored in Carchi in the early hours and then moved toward other provinces in vehicles with hidden compartments, using minor roads.[1] The National Police placed the stop in its operational strategy 3D and in an action called Cero Impunidad, Encuentro 148.[3][1] Primicias noted that large-scale trafficking can carry up to 26 years under the criminal code.[3] No sentence is reported.