RAYA gained access to Ecuadorian police documents detailing how the banana company owned by President Daniel Noboa's family has been involved in exporting more than half a ton of cocaine since 2020 to several European countries. The drugs were concealed among banana crates at the ports in Guayaquil. Although the police seized the shipments in flagrante delicto, those involved have not faced justice. One journalist left the country after reporting on the case.
By: Revista RAYA (RAYA Magazine)- Investigative Unit
Nearly 700 kilos of cocaine were seized at the port of Naportec, Guayaquil, by the National Police's Ports and Airports Intelligence Unit (UIPA) between 2020 and 2022. These police reports were hidden since the owners of the company from which the drugs were confiscated were the Noboa family—the family of the President of the Republic and current reelection candidate, Daniel Noboa. The documents, accessed by RAYA, detail how the cocaine was concealed in banana containers belonging to Noboa Trading and how one of the defendants in the case was represented by Ecuador’s current Minister of Health, Edgar José Lama Von Buchwald.
Part of the investigation was revealed last weekend by Ecuadorian journalist Andrés Durán, who, after disclosing several official documents containing reports on the drug seizure, had to leave the country due to death threats and legal harassment from the ruling political party, Movimiento Acción Democrática Nacional (ADN). In an interview with Revista RAYA, Durán spoke about his investigation and his departure from Ecuador: “This is the first documented case in Ecuador’s history in which a presidential family is allegedly involved in cocaine trafficking. The Noboa family controls the entire chain of the banana export business, from planting and harvesting to transportation and private ports. There is no doubt that the death threats are closely linked to this investigation.”
Last Sunday, March 23rd, the issue took on greater prominence during the presidential debate ahead of the April 13 runoff election. There, left-wing candidate Luisa González asked candidate/President Daniel Noboa about this company and the three seized cocaine shipments. The president himself did not deny this, saying, with his head bowed: "I am not the owner of the company, but members of my family are involved in it. Noboa Trading has cooperated in each of the cases, and this has been clarified with the Prosecutor's Office. This clears any Noboa Trading officials of any illicit acts." However, the judicial investigation is not as clear and conclusive as President Noboa claims, as several prosecutors have been removed from one of the cocaine seizure cases.
Presidential debate in Ecuador, Sunday, March 23
How did they find the cocaine?
The first cocaine seizure was recorded on August 20, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, at the port of Naportec, in the city of Guayaquil. Upon opening the container, the National Police's Ports and Airports Intelligence Unit (UIPA) detected four black jute sacks containing 151 brick-like packages covered with brown packing tape on top of banana boxes. The bags contained a white powder that tested positive for cocaine. According to UIPA documents, the container was destined for Croatia.
José Luis Rivera Baquerizo, a contractor for the banana company Noboa Trading, was responsible for conducting anti-narcotics inspections on the containers.
This discovery, as can be seen in the documents, resulted in the seizure of the drugs and led to a more significant event: the arrest of José Luis Rivera Baquerizo, a contractor for the banana company Noboa Trading (owned by the Ecuadorian president's family) in charge of conducting anti-narcotics inspections for the Noboa family banana company. Rivera was the only one arrested but was later released with the help of lawyer Edgar José Lama Von Buchwald, who was an advisor to then-lawmaker Daniel Noboa and is currently Ecuador’s Minister of Health.
Edgar José Lama Von Buchwald, José Luis Rivera's lawyer, who served as advisor to then-Assemblyman Daniel Noboa and is currently Ecuador's Minister of Health.
On June 30, 2022, another shipment of cocaine was seized at the same port, Naportec — one of Guayaquil’s most important — where the Noboa family controls the cultivation, packaging, and export of bananas. That day, UIPA and other anti-drug investigation units found 260 brick-like packages bearing the Nike logo inside the refrigeration system of one of the containers, owned by the company Noboa Trading. Inside, they found a white substance that tested positive for 260 kilos of cocaine.
This second seizure resulted in the arrest of José Luis Rivera Baquerizo, the man in charge of conducting anti-narcotics checks for the Noboa banana company. The situation was more serious given that this time it was discovered that his employer was President Daniel Noboa's cousin, Roberto Ponce Noboa, the legal representative of the Noboa Trading banana company.
Roberto Ponce Noboa, legal representative of the banana company Noboa Trading and cousin of President Daniel Noboa
The other shipment was detected on April 24, 2024, at the same port of Naportec, south of Guayaquil, where the other shipments had also been found. That day, UIPA agents found 76 kilos of cocaine in the false ceiling of a container, which they again linked to José Luis Rivera Baquerizo, who remains free thanks to the political power to the political power that has backed him.
But these are just three cases that the Ecuadorian police have managed to detect before the containers were loaded onto ships and sent primarily to Europe. However, much larger cocaine shipments have also been detected in European ports. One such case was the seizure of 600 kilos of cocaine at the port of Mersin, Turkey. The drugs were found hidden among dozens of boxes bearing the logo of Banana Bonita, a company that forms part of the Noboa's business holding company. This company is registered in countries as diverse as Morocco, Serbia, and Germany. It is also owned by a company registered in the Bahamas, a tax haven: Fruit Shippers Limited, a company linked to the Noboa family.
57% of the banana containers leaving Guayaquil reportedly arrive in Europe with drugs.
In Ecuador, the Noboa group controls the entire banana cultivation and export supply chain, which raises questions about how much is beyond their supervision. The Noboa family owns the land where the fruit is grown, the containers, the company responsible for making the packaging for export, and even the cargo ships. Ecuadorian Line, a shipping company, is a fundamental part of the business group and exports to several European ports.
This monopoly raises a question: How can there be isolated cases of contamination in an industry where the presidential family's empire controls the traceability of the banana trade?
In response to the rise of violence and drug trafficking in Ecuador, President Noboa has maintained a hardline stance, which he has repeated throughout his government. This includes controversial proposals such as bringing in mercenaries to fight drug cartels or reinstalling the U.S. military base in Manta. However, he has defended himself against these accusations, saying they are fake and that he will respond truthfully.
According to a recent European Commission report, cited by Ecuadorian media, 57% of the banana containers leaving the chaotic ports of Guayaquil arrive in Antwerp loaded with cocaine.
