U.S. Assistant Secretary Weiland in Ecuador: Interceptor Boat Handover, Financial-Intelligence and Anti-Kidnapping Deals
F. Cartwright Weiland, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, traveled to Ecuador from November 2 to 7 to deepen cooperation against the narcoterrorist and transnational criminal organizations that threaten both countries. The State Department said the visit built on $55 million in assistance that Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in Ecuador in September, including $45 million to dismantle narcoterrorist groups and $10 million to combat illegal gold mining, gang recruitment, illicit finance and maritime drug trafficking.
In the Galápagos, Weiland transferred a 38-foot interceptor boat to the Ecuadorian Navy, the latest of 14 interceptors the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is providing to Ecuador's navy and national police to intercept drug traffickers, disrupt illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and stop drugs at sea before they reach the United States.
In Quito, Weiland and Ecuadorian officials signed an agreement giving Ecuador's Financial and Economic Analysis Unit (UAFE) access to advanced data analytics technology from the U.S. company Palantir, to better identify illicit financial networks, support money-laundering prosecutions and cut off narcoterrorists' profits. Weiland and Interior Minister John Reimberg also renewed a 2024 anti-kidnapping and anti-extortion agreement, under which Ecuador's specialized police unit has worked with the U.S. Embassy and Consulate to rescue eight U.S. citizens, and the two sides signed a declaration of intent to combat illicit gold trafficking. (Source: U.S. Department of State)
Source: U.S. Department of State
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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