Drug traffickers are getting better at avoiding port detection, international drug agency reports

Drug traffickers are perfecting their methods of evading controls at Ecuador’s ports, according to the International Narcotics Control Board, a United Nations agency. “Traffickers of cocaine and other illegal drugs are avoiding detection at the ports with increasingly sophisticated methods,” the board reports. “To counter the new methods, Ecuadorian authorities must adopt new and more aggressive means of detection and confiscation. It must also address corruption among port personnel and officials.”

Shipping containers from Guayaquil are offloaded in Antwerp, Belgium.

Although port authorities in Guayaquil, Machala and Manta reported the seizure of 214 tons of cocaine in 2025, the INCB estimates this represents less than 2% of the cocaine shipped out of Ecuador during the year. “The amount is a significant reduction from 2024 seizures, in which 294 tons were confiscated, and we believe this is the result of more sophisticated methods of concealment by traffickers.”

According to INCB less than 1% of the cocaine in shipping containers is detected through x-rays and other scanning technologies. “This failure is the result of the lack of port personnel to review the scans as well as new methods of drug concealment,” the agency said, adding that less than two in 100 scans are reviewed at Ecuadorian ports.

Among the methods used by traffickers, says INCB, are the “encapsulation” of cocaine in double bottoms in cargo containers, as well as within shipping structures, such as wooden crates, pallets and platforms. In addition, bribed or extorted port workers frequently remove inspection seals from containers, place cocaine inside the containers, and then attach a facsimile seal.

INCB also recommends that port authorities increase patrols near the ports to intercept small craft that approach container ships after they leave the ports. “These boats meet container vessels with drugs that are retrieved by corrupt crew members,” it says. “This is particularly a problem near Guayaquil due to the numerous islands in the shipping channel where small boats and drugs can be easily hidden.”

Corruption, not only at Ecuador’s ports but at destination ports in Europe remains the “biggest hurdle” in controlling the shipment of illegal drugs, INCB says. “Without competent and honest port workers and officials, new detection technology and procedural inspection changes will not solve the problem,” it said.