Ecuador army finds 1,313 marijuana packages in a van near Tulcán
Ecuador's army found 1,313 packages of marijuana hidden in a covered van in the sector Y de Frailejón, in Tulcán on the Colombian border, the Defence Ministry said on 15 May 2026. Escort vehicles tried to block the troops so the driver could escape, and the ministry put the damage to criminal structures at 6.5 million dollars.
🇪🇨 Sector Y de Frailejón, Tulcán, Carchi · Ecuador
Members of Ecuador’s army seized 1,313 packages of marijuana hidden inside a
covered van during an operation in Tulcán, on the country’s border with
Colombia, the Defence Ministry said on Friday 15 May 2026.[1]The ministry
said the operation took place in the sector Y de Frailejón, in Tulcán, an area
it described as a border zone with Colombia.[1]Several vehicles apparently
used as escorts tried to obstruct the military manoeuvre to help the driver
escape.[1]The soldiers kept the van and the marijuana it carried despite that
attempt.[1]The ministry published its account of the seizure on social media.[1]Its account says the driver fled during the intervention.[1]
According to the ministry, the operation caused economic damage of 6.5 million
dollars to criminal structures.[1]A heading above the brief reported one
tonne of drugs seized on Ecuador’s northern border.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Cannabis
1 t
Value (official estimate)
USD 6,500,000
Agency type
Military
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis
Activity
Trafficking
Setting
Land border
Case stage
Under investigation
Sources
Diario Expresoexpreso.ecESPosorja: Incautan 2 toneladas de droga en contenedor que se dirigía a Países Bajos
Open questions the AI reported
The ministry's brief gives 1,313 packages and a heading says one tonne; no separate kilogram weight for the packages was published, and the tonne figure is used for the weight recorded here.
No arrest is reported: the ministry's account says the driver fled and that escort vehicles tried to ease his escape.
The 6.5 million dollar figure is the ministry's estimate of the economic damage to criminal structures, not a valuation of a weighed load.
The exact position of the sector Y de Frailejón is not given; the coordinates are those of Tulcán.
The seizure is reported in a short brief inside an article whose headline and main text concern a different, cocaine case.
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.
