Ecuador Anti-Corruption Drive: 12 Held in Guayaquil Over Theft of Impounded Cars
CRIME · ECUADOR
Key Facts
- —The country Ecuador uses the US dollar. Its main port, Guayaquil, has been the centre of a gang-driven security crisis, and the government says it is purging its own police.
- —What happened On Wednesday 30 September 2026 prosecutors and police detained 12 people in 16 dawn raids across Guayaquil, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
- —Who is involved Interior Minister John Reimberg says ten serving and two retired officers. Prosecutors say the 12 include civilians as well as police.
- —What it means for you The alleged scheme targeted cars and parts held in police impound yards, and evidence in police custody. No figure for losses has been published.
- —Still open Names, units and the exact police-civilian split. A judge still has to rule on charges and custody at a first hearing.
Police officers were among 12 people detained in Guayaquil on Wednesday 30 September. The arrests are the latest step in an Ecuador anti-corruption drive aimed at the police force itself.
Prosecutors say the group stole and sold cars and parts from police impound yards, and tampered with evidence held in custody. Interior Minister John Reimberg said on X that ten of those held are serving officers and two are retired.
What prosecutors say happened
The Fiscalía, Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office, led 16 raids before dawn together with the National Police. Targets included homes in the FAE, Pradera, Los Vergeles and Alborada districts and police housing blocks, El Universo and Primicias reported.
Officers seized mobile phones, documents and other evidence. The case is being pursued as asociación ilícita, or criminal association, a charge used against organised groups.
According to prosecutors, the network manipulated evidence under police custody and removed vehicles and parts from impound yards to sell them. Those yards hold cars seized in traffic and criminal cases.
No value has been put on the missing vehicles or parts. The suspects await a hearing at which a judge will decide on formal charges and custody.
Minister and prosecutors differ on who was held
Reimberg’s count describes all 12 as police, ten on active duty and two retired. The Fiscalía’s own statement says the 12 include civilians as well as serving and retired officers, a gap Ecuavisa noted.
Photographs the minister posted show 12 detainees, 11 men and one woman, Ecuavisa reported. Their names, ranks and units have not been released.
“Whoever betrays the duty to serve and protect Ecuadorians does not deserve the honour of wearing it,” Reimberg wrote. He added that “in our police there is no room for corruption.”
He called the purge of the force a firm commitment, Metro Ecuador reported. “We will not tolerate a few staining the honour of thousands of police officers who do their duty,” he wrote.
A run of cases inside the police
A day earlier, prosecutors said an officer of Dinased, the homicide unit, admitted taking about US$6,000 while recovering a body in Quito. He is now in pre-trial detention, Primicias reported.
In August a police lieutenant was charged with offering transfers inside the force for up to US$3,000 each, Primicias reported. In April, 16 people including soldiers and police were prosecuted over fuel theft and later sentenced to 18 months in prison, the Associated Press reported.
In earlier cases Reimberg ordered officers implicated in corruption sent to the Cárcel del Encuentro, a high-security prison, El Universo reported. Cases higher up have fared differently: a prosecutor declined to charge a former minister (Ecuador Anti-Corruption Checks Thin as Prosecutor Won’t Charge Ex-Energy Minister).
Separately, soldiers searched a flat in northern Guayaquil on Monday night for a man known as alias Cantuña. He is a suspected commander of Comandos de la Frontera, an armed group formed on the Colombian border in 2017.
He escaped down the emergency stairs during a ten-minute delay at the entrance. Soldiers found about US$250,000 in cash in a car, Primicias and El Universo reported; Extra, citing military sources, put the total at US$346,156. The raid took place during the night curfew in Guayas province (Ecuador Curfew Runs Nightly in Four Coastal Provinces, 185 Factories Told to Cut Power).
What Is Not Yet Known
Prosecutors have not said how many vehicles or parts went missing, or over what period. It is also unclear which evidence was tampered with and whether any criminal cases were affected.
The identities of the 12 are not public, and the number of civilians among them is unresolved. Nobody has said whether those held will go to the Cárcel del Encuentro. How far the Ecuador anti-corruption drive reaches beyond Guayaquil is also unclear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were police officers detained in Guayaquil on 30 September?
Prosecutors are investigating an alleged network that tampered with evidence in police custody and sold cars and parts from impound yards. The case is being pursued as criminal association.
How many of the 12 detainees are police officers?
Interior Minister John Reimberg says ten serving and two retired officers. The Attorney General’s Office says the 12 include civilians as well as police, so the exact split is unresolved.
What happens to the suspects next?
They face a first hearing at which a judge decides on formal charges and pre-trial detention. Their names and units have not been released.
Sources: Metro Ecuador, 30 September 2026; Extra, 30 September 2026; El Universo, 30 September 2026; Primicias, 30 September 2026; Ecuavisa, 30 September 2026; Associated Press, 30 September 2026; Extra on alias Cantuña, 29 September 2026.
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