More than 40 raids were carried out across the country, resulting in the arrest of 28 individuals and the seizure of 13.6 tonnes of drugs, interior minister Juan Zapata said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The raids were staged in eight of the country’s 24 provinces, where criminal violence and drug trafficking are gaining control.

Authorities have confiscated more than 500 tonnes of drugs since 2021.

Between 2018 and 2022, homicides quadrupled, climbing to a record 26 per 100,000 inhabitants.

This year, experts estimate that the rate of violent deaths will nearly double to 40.

According to police, the gangs trafficking drugs have “transnational links” and are comprised of Ecuadorians, Colombians, and Venezuelans.

The drugs were shipped by boats across the Pacific and departed from Ecuador’s southwestern and northwestern provinces.

Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s biggest cocaine manufacturers, Ecuador has become a drug exporter due to its strategic location.

Criminal gangs in Ecuador have links with international criminal groups such as Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.