US charges son of Ecuador's former president, 4 others with cocaine trafficking

Houston Chronicle · SUDHIN THANAWALA · 2026-11-05 20:58 UTC

Federal prosecutors have charged a son of Ecuador’s former president, a former member of Ecuador’s legislature and three other Ecuadorians with trafficking tons of cocaine to the United States and...

Federal prosecutors have charged a son of Ecuador's former president, a former member of Ecuador's legislature and three other Ecuadorians with trafficking tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe in part by hiding it in containers carrying tuna, the U.S. attorney's office in New York City announced Thursday.

The five defendants played a “critical role” in turning Ecuador into a key transit point for the vast majority of cocaine sent to the U.S. and Europe, U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said.

“The charges announced today represent a coordinated effort to dismantle political corruption and narcotics trafficking that had wreaked havoc in Ecuador and plagued the country with increasing violence in recent years,” McDonald said in a statement.

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