Ecuador’s Army finds 2 illegal mining camps in border area with Colombia

Guayaquil.– The Ecuadorian Army found and destroyed two camps where illegal mining activities were allegedly carried out, located in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos, bordering Colombia, the institution reported this Saturday.

The discovery occurred specifically when soldiers from the 19 Ñaño Jungle Brigade were conducting an offensive reconnaissance military operation in the El Diamante sector of Sucumbíos.

In the camps, two artisanal dredges, two engines, 60 gallons of fuel (227 liters), 60 meters of hose, and other tools and supplies for illegal mining were also found.

“These actions allow us to directly affect illegal economies, protect the environment, and strengthen security in the border zone,” the Armed Forces stated on their X social media account.

Military operations against illegal mining have intensified in recent months in Ecuador, especially after eleven soldiers were killed on May 9 in an ambush while conducting an operation in the Amazon, an attack attributed to the Comandos de la Frontera, a dissident group of the extinct guerrilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who denied their participation.

Ecuadorian Armed Forces have also carried out operations against illegal mining in coastal and Andean areas of the country, in which dozens of camps have been destroyed.

In October, the Government declared the “end” of this illicit activity in the town of Buenos Aires, in the northern province of Imbabura, and sent the contingent to other parts of the national territory, where it has been discovered that Los Lobos and Los Choneros, the two largest criminal groups in the country, would be operating.