By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – By moving small quantities of firearms, utilizing safe houses, and employing hundreds of routes, Ecuadorian arms traffickers have long been able to evade capture and supply weapons to the Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and other guerilla groups in Colombia.

In July, Ecuador and Colombia completed a bi-national training course to combat illicit trafficking in firearms, ammunition and explosives in the border area between the two nations; Ecuador has made notable progress in the past few months.

Ecuadorean police announced yesterday that they have identified the main routes used by arms traffickers in the country. The routes stretch across the country, with most weapons entering via the southern border with Peru.

This success is due, in part, to the capture last month of Edilson Castro Lopez, alias “Chicanero” or “Jairo,” in the province of Pichincha.  Chicanero was responsible for coordinating shipments of weapons to the FARC western command under the command “Pacho Chino” and “Sargent Easter.”

The investigation since Chicanero’s capture has revealed over 175 underground passages from Peru into Ecuador.  Once in Ecuador, guns, explosives, and ammunition are moved overland in small numbers using personal vehicles or other non-conspicuous methods.  Along the route to Colombia, the arms are stored in safe houses.

In September alone, four raids have been conducted at safe houses along known trafficking routes.  Each raid has revealed quantities of ammunition, a few weapons, and gun parts.

It appears that the week-long training involving employees of the Ministry of National Defense of Ecuador, the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Security Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prosecutor of armed forces of Ecuador, Colombia’s Armed Forces, National Police of Ecuador, and Customs had an appreciable impact on Ecuador’s actions.

During the course, research techniques were developed in the tracing of SALW (small arms light weapons) illegal material.  Technical aspects regarding the identification of firearms and ammunition, national and international legal frameworks on the matter and judicial handling of evidence were all covered.  Host organizations addressed a number of cross-cutting issues related to the use of force, the impact of armed violence on children/girls and women, and the protection of women and children.

The training was promoted by the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, in collaboration with the Program for Development and Peace for the Northern Border, of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) and the Regional Centre for Peace, United Nations, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC).

For further information, please see:

El Comercio – El tráfico de armas vulnera las fronteras norte y sur de Ecuador – 17 September 2012

InSight Crime – Mapping Gun Smuggling Routes in Ecuador – 17 September 2012

El Tiempo – Traficante de las FARC controlaba 175 pasos ilegales en frontera – 6 August 2012

ONU – PNUD y UNLIREC Asisten a Ecuador y Colombia Para Fortaclecer sus Cpacidades en la Lucha Contra el Tráfico Ilícito de Armas de Fuego en Zonas Fronterizas – 7 July 2012