In February 2023, a news report in the Mexican press detailed the seizure of a vessel 195 nautical miles off the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán. The boat carried nearly 315 kilograms of cocaine, packed in tape-covered bricks, as well as 1,650 liters of fuel in 33 plastic jugs.

Two Ecuadorian fishermen were among the five detainees. Their travel records showed unusual patterns: both had arrived multiple times since 2016 via air travel from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador, yet there were no records of them leaving Ecuador by plane. Their movements appeared to follow a pattern: they would depart from the coasts of Manabí with illegal shipments, deliver the cargo at sea, abandon the boats, and then return home on commercial flights.

The criminal network to which these detainees belonged was headed by Leonardo Briones Chiquito, known as Iguana or Mexicano. A former fishing boat captain, he knew the secrets of the sea. Briones Chiquito was closely connected to the Lobos, a faction contesting the Choneros’ control over Pacific maritime routes. The Choneros have traditionally dominated this illegal activity, especially along the Manabí coast. The Lobos, a splinter group, expanded nationwide, adding extortion, illegal mining, and kidnapping to their criminal portfolio.

The Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office documented Briones Chiquito’s criminal network through wiretaps, surveillance, and raids spanning over a year. This reporting team accessed the judicial proceedings, which show that the group’s criminal operations now include the trafficking of marine species.

The investigation revealed that members of the organization specifically recruited sailors to transport drug packages on speedboats from ports like Jaramijó. When they detected authorities nearby, the crew did not hesitate to throw the drug bundles into the sea. Sometimes, they attached GPS devices with satellite buoys to recover the packages later and avoid retaliation, since the loss of cargo is often punished with death.

The group learned of the vessel’s seizure in Mexico when one of the detained Ecuadorians managed to call his wife. Upon hearing the news, they organized a new operation to recover the “candies.”

Drug into the Water

Communications between the fishermen were intercepted during the criminal investigation. “Light a candle for the girl [the Virgin] to keep going. They saw drones at sea and dumped the jute sacks,” reads an excerpt from one of the conversations. In another, they mention carrying “Colombian overseers” on the boat and note that the engines are new, suggesting higher speeds. In a separate exchange, they ask who caught the “fish.”

Briones Chiquito was linked to the investigation led by the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office. He was not sentenced to prison but was required to report periodically to the authorities. During a subsequent raid on his relatives’ homes, conducted as part of a new investigation into money laundering, police found a caiman just over a meter long.

In mid-July 2025, Briones Chiquito and his wife were gunned down by hitmen while traveling in a luxury armored vehicle, guarded by former army members. The murders triggered a wave of violence in Manabí, with 18 people killed that night.

The Prosecutor’s Office continued investigating money laundering and found that a seafood export company was linked to the group. Between 2021 and 2024, the company allegedly laundered $17 million, according to the prosecutors.

In August 2018, the Tahoma, a vessel of the United States Coast Guard, intercepted another boat carrying 16 packages concealing 769 kilos of cocaine. Five crew members—two Mexican and three Ecuadorian—were arrested and taken to Florida. The six satellite phones and GPS devices found on board became key pieces of evidence.

This launched a three-year transnational investigation that exposed the criminal structure allied with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. From Manabí’s coast, a fleet of at least ten boats transported fuel to vessels waiting in the Pacific Ocean. Speedboats carried cocaine sacks to Central America, Mexico, and the United States, passing south of the Galápagos Islands.

“Sharks are killed for their fins. These are sent to the Galápagos Islands for processing and storage before being shipped to China, where they are considered a delicacy with supposed aphrodisiac properties,” investigators said.

Some boats would drop the illicit cargo and then catch sharks using longlines—thick cords with hooks attached at intervals. In Ecuador, an artisanal fishing law from 2007 allows accidentally caught sharks to be used and sold.

An officer who investigated the criminal structure confirmed that shark fishing was a complementary activity to drug and fuel trafficking. The fins were transported to the Galápagos Islands for processing and storage, then shipped to China.

Despite evidence presented at trial, the Ecuadorian courts prosecuted the group only for drug trafficking, not for illegal fishing. Two of the three judges in the first instance acquitted the defendants of wildlife-related charges.

According to Colonel Carlos Ortega, director of the Anti-Narcotics Police, between 2024 and 2025, authorities intercepted two fishing vessels near the Galápagos, carrying a total of 27 tons of shark fins destined for the Asian market. The most recent seizure occurred on August 10, when the U.S. Coast Guard detained a boat transporting 10 tons of fins, arresting 18 people: 13 from Manabí, two from Esmeraldas, and one from Quito. The other case took place in April 2024 as part of Operation Phoenix 113, in which the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy seized 16.6 tons of fins.

On both occasions, according to Colonel Ortega, the fishermen were sailing near the Galápagos along the same route used to transport cocaine to Central America and the United States. Authorities estimate that the boats had also previously been used to carry cocaine from Ecuadorian ports. After delivering the drugs, the fishermen—who operate for criminal groups such as Los Choneros—fished sharks to sell the fins to intermediaries from the Chinese fleet, which spends much of the year fishing in international waters off the Galápagos.

Guido Núñez, a security and organized crime consultant, previously served in an elite police unit tracking drug vessels since the late 1990s. He identified gaps in state control and oversight. Fishermen received state-subsidized fuel until mid-September, with no mechanisms to prevent its diversion to narcotics trafficking. He also found that sharks caught on longlines were often butchered: their fins removed and, in some cases, the carcasses shipped to Manabí ports. From there, they were transported to Quito, where the meat is sold in markets as a type of croaker fish.