MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Four held in Ecuador over migrant-smuggling network to the United States

Ecuador has stepped up cooperation with US agencies on security and migration control in recent months

Ecuador's police arrested four people, including a serving officer and a former immigration-control official, accused of belonging to an alleged network dedicated to smuggling migrants to the United States, the institution said. The arrests were made in simultaneous operations in the provinces of Pichincha, Tungurahua, Carchi and Santa Elena.

According to the investigation, the organization facilitated the irregular movement of people toward US territory through clandestine routes. Those detained were handed over to the courts, and authorities are continuing their inquiries to determine whether more people were involved. The people arrested have been charged and not convicted.

Investigators identified five victims of the network, who were allegedly moved along irregular routes, evading immigration controls in various countries, until they were detained by Mexican authorities and later deported to Ecuador. Those people were under a legal ban on leaving the country, leading police to presume that the officer and the former official — who had worked at the Rumichaca International Bridge, the main border crossing between Ecuador and Colombia — used genuine immigration stamps to bypass controls and keep the departures from being recorded in the system.

Interior Minister John Reimberg said the operation was carried out with the support of the US Diplomatic Security Service and that the alleged network charged between 14,000 and 20,000 dollars for each person moved. The operation was conducted on the orders of President Daniel Noboa, as part of security cooperation between the two countries.

The case reflects the role of routes that start in the Andean region and cross Central America and Mexico toward the United States, as well as the alleged involvement of officials with access to immigration systems. During the raids, agents seized mobile phones and documentation linked to the alleged crime, which is now being analyzed to establish the scope of the structure. Police said the victims received support following their return to the country.

Ecuador has stepped up cooperation with US agencies on security and migration control in recent months, amid growing pressure on human-smuggling and transnational crime networks operating in the region.