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US Charges Son of Ecuador's Former President, 4 Others with Cocaine Trafficking
Prosecutors say the five defendants used tuna shipments to move cocaine and face weapons charges tied to Ecuador’s role as a major transit hub.
- On Thursday, United States federal prosecutors in New York City charged five Ecuadorians, including Jacobo Abdala Bucaram-Pulley and former National Assembly member Jaime Estrada Medranda, with trafficking tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe in tuna shipments.
- Attorney Jamie McDonald said the five defendants played a "critical role" in turning Ecuador into a key transit point for narcotics, with charges representing a coordinated effort to dismantle political corruption and trafficking plaguing the country with increasing violence.
- All five face charges of conspiring to import cocaine and possessing machine guns, according to court records; Jaime Estrada Bonilla, Geovanny Fernandez Menendez, and William Jose Briones Lopez also participated in the scheme.
- Arrested this month, Bucaram-Pulley was taken into custody in Ecuador and Medranda while traveling in Panama; court records do not list attorneys for any of the five defendants facing federal prosecution in the United States.
- Wedged between Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has struggled to contain drug violence as rival cartels control coastal ports; The Trump administration has reached agreements with Ecuador to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups.
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24 Articles
The Toronto StarReposted by 
The Seattle Times
The Seattle TimesUS charges son of Ecuador’s former president, 4 others with cocaine trafficking
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
·Toronto, Canada
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US charges son of Ecuador's former president, 4 others with cocai
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
·Baltimore, United States
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Associated Press News+20 Reposted by 20 other sources
US charges son of Ecuador's former president, 4 others with cocaine trafficking
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.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources24
Leaning Left10Leaning Right2Center12Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 42%
C 50%
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