Ecuador — 43 arrested and a smuggling plane seized as police hit Los Lobos and Los Choneros
~2.5 t drugs · aircraft · $1M + €858,000Guayas, Manabí, Esmeraldas and three other provinces, Ecuador43 arrested
Ecuador's National Police executed two simultaneous operations, codenamed "Factoría" and "Jericó," on the morning of August 26, carrying out 36 raids across the provinces of Guayas, Santo Domingo, El Oro, Los Ríos, Manabí and Esmeraldas. Interior Minister John Reimberg said 43 alleged members of Los Lobos and Los Choneros were detained, among them two Mexican nationals linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel who allegedly ran a clandestine air bridge — using unlicensed airstrips and light aircraft — to move cocaine from Ecuador toward North America. Seizures included roughly 2.5 tonnes of controlled substances, more than one million US dollars and €858,000 in cash, 25 firearms and about a thousand rounds of ammunition, 21 vehicles, an aircraft, close to a thousand litres of aviation fuel, 47 mobile phones and ballistic vests. The operations were coordinated with the Attorney General's Office with cooperation from the DEA and support from US Southern Command.
Peru — 352 kg of cocaine seized after a chase on the Binational Highway in Moquegua
352.15 kg cocaineMoquegua, Peru4 detained
Peruvian National Police intercepted a vehicle on the Carretera Binacional in Moquegua on the night of August 25–26 and recovered 352 kilograms 150 grams of cocaine hydrochloride packed in brick-shaped bundles hidden beneath the seats and in compartments. A second vehicle running ahead as a lookout was also stopped. Four people were detained; police attribute the shipment to a criminal organisation known as "Los Maléficos del Sur."
Brazil — 373 kg of skunk cannabis taken off a boat outside Rio Branco
373.5 kg cannabis (skunk)Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil
The Acre integrated organised-crime task force FICCO/AC seized 373.5 kilograms of skunk cannabis, along with a boat and its outboard motor, during operations in rural Rio Branco on August 25. Officers acted on anonymous tips about a vessel carrying illicit cargo in an area known as "Furo," near Ramal Caipora. The task force draws on the Federal Police and Acre's civil, military and penal police, with support from BOPE, the environmental policing battalion, the Xapuri civil police and the border special operations group GEFRON.
Argentina — Naval Prefecture pulls 340 kg of marijuana out of the Paraná at Puerto Iguazú
340+ kg cannabisPuerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina
Prefectura Naval Argentina reported on August 26 that it had seized more than 340 kilograms of marijuana, packed in 452 bundles inside 11 large sacks, at Puerto Carolina in Puerto Iguazú, at kilometre 1,865 of the Paraná River. Crews detected an incoming boat and recovered the cargo after a combined land and water search; the load was valued at about 1.3 billion pesos. The seizure falls under Plan Guaçurarí, the national border-control push in Misiones province. No arrests were reported.