Ecuador has announced plans to partner with Erik Prince – the founder of a notorious U.S. private defense contracting firm – to combat organized crime and fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the country.
“Organized crime has sown fear and has believed that it can operate with impunity. Their time is running out. International aid will begin in Ecuador,” Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said on X. “In a meeting with [Erik Prince], founder of Blackwater, we have established a strategic alliance to strengthen our capabilities in the fight against narcoterrorism and the protection of our waters from illegal fishing. There is no truce. There is no going back. Let's move forward.”
The Ecuadorian National Aquaculture Chamber (CNA) has warned about the growing waves of crime affecting Ecuador, specifically their effects on the country’s USD 6 billion (EUR 5.5 billion) shrimp-farming sector.
Increasingly daring criminal groups have intensified their actions, including threats, extortion, and even carrying out attacks, the CNA said, which has led Ecuador’s shrimp industry to invest more than USD 80 million (EUR 73.4 million) annually in security measures, including the hiring of guards and implementing advanced video surveillance systems powered by artificial intelligence and satellite tracking technology.
To combat the issue nationally, Noboa has emphasized seeking external security assistance and support through “special forces abroad” that would arrive in the country to join the fight against organized crime.
As part of that strategy, Noboa recently met with Erik Prince, who founded U.S.-based private security firm Blackwater in 1997. The firm gained notoriety in 2007 when its employees killed 17 civilians in Iraq and injured 20 more.
After that event, dubbed the Nisour Square massacre, the company changed its name, and Prince sold his shares in the firm to a private fund.
According to news service Latin News, it is unclear if Prince would act simply as a consultant to Noboa or if he would lead a foreign security force to directly intervene in the country, similar to the way Blackwater operated under his oversight.
Regardless, the announcement from Noboa drew criticism...
