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In Ecuador, violence linked to organized crime has escalated sharply in recent years, particularly in port cities like Guayaquil, where drug trafficking, territorial control, and criminal rivalry converge. But beyond physical violence lies a more insidious layer: the digital presence of criminal groups, and their ability to influence, recruit, and shape public perception through online platforms.
With over 9,000 suspicious anonymous devices across nearly 280 flagged locations , we layered the results inside AKTEK iO to trace patterns of movement, repetition, overlap, and potential coordination. What we uncovered was a networked ecosystem of gold extraction, movement, and export.
Thankful for a great conference in Boca Raton, FL! TAPA T2 was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with partners and industry leaders committed to fighting cargo theft across the U.S., LATAM and beyond. We’re seeing clear shifts in stolen commodities, criminal tactics and regional risk patterns—reinforcing how essential coordination and shared intelligence have become.
Illegal supply chains aren’t just physical. In today’s economy, many of them start and scale entirely online, before a single product is moved.
From counterfeit resellers and affiliate funnels to unauthorized platforms and influencer-driven sales, digital ecosystems have become key enablers of illicit trade. These actors rely on visibility, volume, and jurisdictional gaps, not trucks or warehouses.
Illegal gold mining (galamsey) continues to threaten Ghana’s environment, economic resilience, and social cohesion. While headlines often focus on deforestation or mercury contamination, a more elusive dimension fuels the problem: the unseen supply chain that moves gold from illegal extraction zones through laundering points and out of the country.
In Ecuador, violence linked to organized crime has escalated sharply in recent years, particularly in port cities like Guayaquil, where drug trafficking, territorial control, and criminal rivalry converge. But beyond physical violence lies a more insidious layer: the digital presence of criminal groups, and their ability to influence, recruit, and shape public perception through online platforms.