Los Angeles Times – Drug trafficking on the rise through Ecuador

The Los Angeles Times reports on the increased drug trafficking in Ecuador in the last several years. According to this article, the murder rate has doubled over 20 years and overall crime has increased up to 50% since 2009:

To hear a 20-year veteran of the force tell it, the streets of Ecuador are a lot meaner for undercover cops these days.

The anti-drug officer says narcotics are flooding in, a fellow detective was killed during a recent sting operation, and months of painstaking investigative work are routinely squandered by corrupt or threatened judges who let suspects go.

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