Analysis of organized crime in Ecuador: money laundering, corruption and arms trafficking
Keywords:
Crimes, organized crime, corruption, weapons, traffickingAbstract
The investigation aimed to analyze the dynamics of organized crime in Ecuador, specifically focusing on money laundering, corruption, and arms trafficking, based on information provided by the OECO. A qualitative methodology was adopted through interviews with criminal law specialists and socio-legal analysis. The results highlighted that institutional weakness, coupled with impunity, facilitated the consolidation and significant state infiltration of these criminal networks, a novel and relevant finding. It was concluded that the containment strategies implemented to date were predominantly reactive and insufficient. Therefore, a deep legislative reform, strengthened international cooperation, and the establishment of rigorous preventive control mechanisms were recommended.
Downloads
References
Aguilera, N. (2025). Ecuador inicia 2025 con estado de excepción. https://www.vozdeamerica.com/a/ecuador-inicia-2025-con-nuevo-estado-de-excepcion-/7923826.html
Álvarez, C. (2024). ¿El paraíso perdido? Tráfico de armas de fuego y violencia en Ecuador. Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Carla-A%CC%81lvarez-%C2%BFEl-parai%CC%81so-perdido_-Tra%CC%81fico-de-armas-de-fuego-y-violencia-en-Ecuador-GI-TOC-junio-2024.pdf
Carrión, F. (2024). La producción social de las violencias en Ecuador y América Latina. Histórica, estructural, plural y relacional. FLACSO. https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/quito/21058.pdf
Contero, A., & Rivera, R. (2023). Boletín anual de homicidios intencionales en Ecuador. Análisis de las estadísticas finales del año 2023. Observatorio Ecuatoriano De Crimen Organizado (OECO). https://oeco.padf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/OECO.-BOLETIN-ANUAL-DE-HOMICIDIOS-2023.pdf
González, M. (2025). Ecuador cerró 2024 con la segunda peor tasa de muertes violentas de su historia, pese a una importante reducción. https://www.primicias.ec/seguridad/ecuador-2024-tasa-muertes-violendas-segunda-peor-historia-87118/
InSight Crime. (2024). Perfil de Ecuador. https://insightcrime.org/es/noticias-crimen-organizado-ecuador/ecuador/
Maffei, M. (2025). Lavado de activos en Ecuador: un crimen sin límites que afecta al 30% – 40% del PIB https://www.primicias.ec/opinion/michelle-maffei/lavado-activos-ecuador-crimen-economia-pib-90364/
Pazmiño, M. (2024). Inseguridad: diez meses de impacto profundo. https://planv.com.ec/historias/crimen-organizado/inseguridad-diez-meses-de-impacto-profundo/
Peñafiel, D., & Aguirre, N. (2023). Crimen organizado y corrupción en Ecuador: desafíos para la formación continua de las y los nuevos jueces especializados. Sapientia, 14(4). https://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/677/6774766003/html/
Pichel, M. (2021). Cómo Ecuador pasó de ser país de tránsito a un centro de distribución de la droga en América Latina (y qué papel tienen los carteles mexicanos https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-58829554
Rivera, R., & Contero, A. (2024). Resumen del estudio de sentencias por lavado de activos en Ecuador 2020-2022. Observatorio Ecuatoriano De Crimen Organizado (OECO). https://oeco.padf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ESTUDIO-DE-SENTENCIAS-DE-LAVADO-DE-ACTIVOS-resumen.pdf
Rivera-Rhon, R., & Bravo-Grijalva, C. (2020). Crimen organizado y cadenas de valor: el ascenso estratégico del Ecuador en la economía del narcotráfico. URVIO - Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de Seguridad, 28, 8–24. https://doi.org/10.17141/urvio.28.2020.4410
Romero, P. (2023). 54 pistas clandestinas del narcotráfico han sido identificadas en Ecuador. https://www.ecuavisa.com/noticias/seguridad/pistas-clandestinas-narcotráfico-identificadas-ecuador-NE6053924
Sanabria, D. (2019). Respuestas del Estado ecuatoriano, frente a la amenaza global de Narcotráfico. [Tesis de grado de la Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar].
Voss, G. (2023). ¿La legalización de pandillas es la responsable de la crisis de seguridad en Ecuador? https://insightcrime.org/es/noticias/entrevistas/legalizacion-pandillas-causa-crisis-seguridad-ecuador/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Rene Estalin Portilla-Paguay, Jessica Johanna Santander-Moreno, Natalia Carolina Cadena-Cuaical
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in Revista UGC agree to the following terms:
1. Copyright
Authors retain unrestricted copyright to their work. Authors grant the journal the right of first publication. To this end, they assign the journal non-exclusive exploitation rights (reproduction, distribution, public communication, and transformation). Authors may enter into additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal, provided that acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal is given.
© The authors.
2. License
The articles are published in the journal under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The terms can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en
This license allows:
- Sharing: Copying and redistributing the material in any medium or format.
- Adapting: Remixing, transforming, and building upon the material.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if any changes were made. You may do this in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses or sponsors your use.
- NonCommercial: You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your creation under the same license as the original work.
There are no additional restrictions. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
