International

Ecuador police intercept major drug shipment destined for Europe

More than three tons of drugs valued at $150 million, destined for Europe, were seized early Saturday at a port in Ecuador, the police reported.

The discovery was made during an operation at the port of Guayaquil, located 265 kilometers southwest of the capital, Quito. With the help of trained dogs, the cargo was detected hidden in a container of export products that was supposed to arrive in Belgium.

This is not the largest drug shipment seized this year. Nestled between Colombia and Peru—two of the world’s largest drug producers—Ecuador has become a logistical hub for transnational drug trafficking organizations, where large shipments are stored, warehoused, and transported from its Pacific ports.

The seized drugs amounted to 37.5 million doses of cocaine hydrochloride, with a value of $150 million on the European market, according to the police report.

The illicit substance was contained in 3,864 rectangular blocks hidden among boxes of an unspecified export product, the police stated.

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Between January 1 and December 1, Ecuador has seized 273.6 tons of drugs, compared to 206 tons seized during the same period last year, marking a 32% increase, according to official figures.

One of the most significant drug seizures in Ecuador occurred in January when 22 tons of cocaine were discovered on a banana plantation in the Los Ríos province, which were intended to be transported by small planes to Europe, Asia, the United States, and Central America, the Army reported.

International

TikTok sale advances as Trump reveals deal is in place

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that TikTok has secured a buyer, marking a key step for the popular video-sharing platform to continue operating in the United States.

“We have a buyer for TikTok. We’ll probably need China’s approval,” said the Republican leader during an interview with Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News. Without naming the company, Trump said it is a “very wealthy” tech firm, and the identity will likely be revealed within “two weeks.”

Under former President Joe Biden, Congress passed legislation requiring TikTok’s parent company, the Chinese firm ByteDance, to divest the app to a buyer from a “non-adversarial” country by January 20, the day Trump returned to the White House following his reelection.

Due to the lack of an agreement, TikTok temporarily ceased operations in the U.S. until Trump, on his first day back in office, signed an executive order granting a 75-day extension. He later issued another 75-day extension on April 4, and most recently extended the deadline an additional 90 days, until September 17.

Trump, who has publicly stated he has “a soft spot for TikTok,” believes the platform played a vital role in building his popularity among younger voters during the last election.

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International

Protests erupt over Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ migrant jail in the Everglades

Hundreds of environmentalists, Indigenous leaders, and activists gathered on Saturday to protest against the planned opening of a migrant detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” which, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, could begin operating as early as Tuesday and hold up to 3,000 migrants.

The protest took place amid active construction at the site, located in the Everglades Natural Park—an ecologically sensitive wetlands region west of Miami. Demonstrators raised concerns about the environmental impact on an area that is home to 36 native species of plants and animals that are threatened or endangered.

Protest signs read messages such as: “This scam will cost us $450 million and destroy our precious Everglades,”“Continuing with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is criminal,” and “These are concentration camps on Indigenous land.”

The backlash intensified after a televised segment aired the night before on Fox and Friends, where DeSantis toured the facility—built on an abandoned airport—and suggested the detention center could start receiving migrants as early as Tuesday.

Internacionales

Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site

A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.

“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.

As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.

“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.

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Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.