By Alexandra Valencia
QUITO (Reuters) – Police in Ecuador and Spain have arrested at least 30 people in simultaneous operations as part of an investigation into Albanian organized crime, the Ecuadorean attorney general’s office said on Tuesday.
Prosecutors from both countries carried out 57 raids in six provinces of Ecuador and in four Spanish cities related to alleged money laundering and drug trafficking.
The raids occurred amid a military offensive launched by Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa to combat criminal gangs in the South American country, which he has designated terrorists.
“The operation was carried out in collaboration with the attorney general’s office in Spain (where 12 of the arrests were made and 450,000 euros were seized) with 45 prosecutors participating with their support staff,” the Ecuadorean attorney general’s office said via social media, without giving further details.
The money seized is worth around $483,000.
Prosecutors also found cash and firearms, and also seized property and vehicles.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin, editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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