Criminal groups infiltrate Ecuador’s private security firms; Some are even registered to gang leaders

By Gavin Voss

Private security companies have surged in Ecuador as crime has intensified, but mounting evidence of criminal infiltration in the industry suggests that it may be servicing criminals as much as the private sector and the government.

Private security agents stop a customer at a Cuenca bank during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Take the recent case of Carlos Joel G.C., alias “Carlitos,” a Guayaquil drug trafficker who headed one of “the largest and most sophisticated organizations” in the country, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Carlitos relied on a fleet of armored vehicles to transport cocaine to shrimp farms surrounding Guayaquil’s many estuaries. From there, speedboats carried the drugs, often in multi-ton quantities, to cargo ships around the city’s port terminals.

A crucial aspect of this operation, authorities highlighted, were Carlitos’ legally registered private security companies, which allowed his operations to fly under authorities’ radar.

InSight Crime examines how the private security industry has expanded in Ecuador, and why it is increasingly vulnerable to criminal infiltration.

Ecuador’s private security boom
Private security companies have become essential partners for businesses and the Ecuadorian government in the fight against organized crime, with the industry expanding its influence as a result.

The private security boom comes despite Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa’s push for heavy-handed measures following an unprecedented outbreak in organized crime activity. The impact of this military strategy has been mixed. While the government claims homicides have decreased this year, predatory crimes like extortion, kidnapping, and robbery continue to rise in many parts of the country, according to local media reports.

“I have had several meetings with the armed forces and the police and nothing works,” an industrial sector leader in the Guayaquil metropolitan area, who chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told InSight Crime. “We are abandoned.”
Private security services have stepped in to fill these gaps, providing enhanced surveillance, armed escorts, and employee background checks, in an effort to insulate businesses from some of the threats posed by criminal groups.

In 2023, Ecuadorians spent $922 million on these services, according to a report by Vistazo, up from $745 million in 2016. With demand for security services rising, the number of newly created security companies jumped to 194 in 2023 from 134 in 2022, a Connectas investigation found.

Ecuador’s government, perhaps recognizing shortcomings of its security strategy, has also turned to private security for support. The Ecuadorian National Police unveiled a new program in July, for example, that links information sharing and surveillance systems between national security forces and private security companies. This follows revisions to the Private Security and Surveillance Law (Ley de Seguridad y Vigilancia Privada) that took effect in February, establishing an undersecretary within the Ministry of the Interior to oversee collaboration between private security companies and the police.

The government has also changed laws to facilitate industry growth. It has loosened arms ownership rules for private security companies, allowing them to build their arsenals at a lower cost. In response to lobbying from the private security industry, Noboa in June reduced the tax on arms and munitions to 30% from 300%, part of a broader loosening of regulations on private arms ownership that began in April 2023.

The restriction had made it difficult for private security companies to purchase arms, according to a June report by the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory (Observatorio Ecuatoriano de Crimen Organizado – OECO).

Criminals make moves on a vulnerable industry
While private security companies boost the manpower available to fight organized crime groups, they have also become appealing tools for criminals looking to legitimize their activities and build arsenals.

Many members of criminal groups in Ecuador, through corrupt judicial processes or otherwise, have managed to avoid convictions, helping them to slip through the government’s regulatory system to obtain or create security companies.

One such case happened in the Guayaquil area, where Stalin Rolando Olivero Vargas, alias “El Marino,” a high-level leader of the Lagartos, a gang based in the city, owned a security company, according to an investigation by Connectas. Although Olivero appeared on the government’s most wanted list and faced multiple arms and firearms charges, he was never convicted, allowing his company to pass government screening processes, the investigation found.

Once it sets up a security company, a criminal group effectively legalizes its presence, government and security officials told InSight Crime. This not only shields it from law enforcement scrutiny, but provides a conduit to launder money, while allowing the group to project power and influence as an armed force in the streets.

For example, Junior Roldán, alias “JR,” a high-level Choneros leader before his murder in May 2023, was linked to a security company registered under his ex-partner and son. He used the company to participate in public relations activities, handing out Christmas gifts to children in El Triunfo, near Guayaquil, in collaboration with the town’s municipal government, according to Primicias.

In some cases, criminals have even posed as private security companies to extort local businesses in Guayaquil, said César Llaguno, chief operations officer of Segura EP, Guayaquil’s municipal security company.

“The sector pays them a monthly fee thinking that they are a security company,” Llaguno told InSight Crime in April. “But they aren’t.”

Security companies’ ability to legally import arms, now with much lower taxes, also draws criminal groups. With legal permits, they can import and carry weapons without fear of police intervention, a boon for criminal groups whose operations hinge on using force while avoiding capture. Olivero, for example, legalized 76 weapons for his company, the Connectas investigation found.

“If you are stopped by a police roadblock, and they find weapons, they’re going to arrest you,” a Guayaquil security company’s chief of operations, who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons, told InSight Crime. “But if the gun is owned by a security company that is legally authorized to carry weapons…you’re not doing anything illegal.”

Robbery of security companies’ arms caches is also a risk, Jorge Villacreses, president of private security company Cuport, told InSight Crime. Villacreses cited one recent example in Durán. According to Extra, three private security guards, working together with two other individuals dressed as policemen, killed two of their coworkers while robbing arms from their employer.

In addition, criminal groups may take advantage of the increasingly tight relationship between private security companies and the government. In fact, criminal groups have already infiltrated municipal security councils and transit authorities, using their surveillance structures to avoid law enforcement crackdowns.

While high-profile cases like Carlitos and JR have caught headlines, leaders in the private security industry and government officials told InSight Crime they suspect the problem is already widespread.

“There are many new companies that we don’t know where they came from,” Villacreses told InSight Crime, adding that there are “more than a dozen” in the country that could be directly linked to criminal groups.
_______________

Credit: InSight Crime