Drug trade in Equador?

[LARRY S.]

I am a 3 month subscriber to IL, and am checking out Ecuador as a retirement haven. However, just talked to a dad of a DEA agent here in the US who told me to be aware of a serious drug traffic problem in the jungles of Ecuador. Can anybody elaborate on this situation before I visit the country. Thanks for any input. Larry

[SUZAN HASKINS]

Hi Larry, do you plan to go to Ecuador’s deep jungle? If not and if you don’t plan to seek out drugs, you most likely won’t encounter any problems. I’ve been many times to tourist ares of Ecuador’s rainforest and Amazon areas (some of my favorite, best-memory excursions) but I have never been into the deep jungle provinces near the Colombia border where there might be issues with drug trafficking. And I really would have no reason to go to these places.

I have never even been offered illegal drugs in Ecuador nor have I really seen any indication of any major drug use problems, even in the major cities.

I am not naive and not saying there aren’t places where drug use is going on. That seems to be a fact of life anywhere in the world today. But it’s not something you see widespread evidence of or should be fearful about in Ecuador.

[LARRY S.]

Hi Suzan, Thanks for the information about my concern with the drug problem. I was hoping that would be the response. Larry

[COUNTRY EXPERT – WENDY DECHAMBEAU]

Hi Larry,

I had a similar thing happen just before I moved to Ecuador. My neighbor was former DEA and he had all kinds of scary stories from his still-active DEA friends about Ecuador. I’ve learned that it’s much a matter of perspective. I’ve been here 3.5 years now and like Suzan have never seen any evidence of a drug trade nor been offered illegal drugs. No doubt it occurs, but it’s not rampant and not a problem throughout most of the country. The DEA agents on the other hand are ONLY dealing with drug issues. So that is all they see. And often it is in a small portion of the country, but since they’re not here as tourists or expats they don’t see the majority of the country and how very different it is from their world.

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