(Bloomberg) -- Drug gangs have begun growing significant amounts of coca, the key raw ingredient in cocaine, inside Ecuador, according to President Daniel Noboa, who vowed to eradicate the crops as part of an ongoing crackdown on trafficking that has plagued the country.
Roughly 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of coca are being cultivated inside the Andean nation, Noboa said during an overnight broadcast, citing satellite data provided by Ecuador’s international allies.
The figure would mark a significant development in a drug trade that has turned Ecuador into one of the world’s most violent nations over the last decade. While the country now serves as a key transportation hub for traffickers, Ecuador’s military has largely thwarted growth of the shrub that is more commonly cultivated in nearby Colombia and Peru.
“A message to the groups of narco-terrorists: We are not going to ignore this,” Noboa said, adding that the military began operations against coca planting on Oct. 11.
Noboa declared a domestic war on drug gangs in January, three months after winning an out-of-cycle election that was marred by the violence gripping the once-tranquil nation. The crackdown has led to an 18% annual decline in the number of murders, according to official data.
But the use of the military to control jails and patrol crime-hit urban areas also thinned out the country’s ability to monitor the border with Colombia, with gangs taking advantage to increase coca production inside Ecuador, local news site Código Vidrio reported.
Noboa, 36, said that coca growth inside Ecuador had expanded over the past three years, a problem he blamed on previous administrations as he looks toward a 2025 election in which crime will rank among the top issues. Voting is scheduled for Feb. 9, with most polls pointing to a potential runoff rematch in April between Noboa and left-wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez.
The satellite images also revealed areas of illegal gold mining with heavy mercury contamination, Noboa said. Strongly associated with drug traffickers, the practice has inflicted major environmental damage along the upper Napo River — a main tributary of the Amazon — and in some Andean areas of the country.
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