Ecuadorian police have detained Jacobo Bucaram Pulley in Guayaquil after an Interpol red notice, the Interior minister announced. Interior minister John Reimberg said Bucaram has a red notice and is sought by the United States. He added that Bucaram would be sent to the US under the relevant process. Reimberg revealed a photograph of Bucaram in custody, with handcuffs and guarded by two officers from the GEMA mobile anti-narcotics unit. The minister also showed Bucaram’s identity card, with the identification number and signature covered. The Interior ministry said the operation also led to arrests in Guayaquil of William José Briones López and Geovanny Fernández Menéndez. Reimberg stated that two other suspects, Jaime Estrada Bonilla and his son Jaime Estrada Medranda, were also arrested in Panama. According to the minister, all five men have US requests for alleged offences linked to drug trafficking. In Ecuador, Bucaram has a first-instance conviction for organised delinquency, with a sentence of nine years and four months over an alleged scheme connected to irregular sale of rapid COVID-19 tests in 2020. He also received a dismissal in December 2020 in a separate case involving alleged trafficking of cultural heritage assets. Abdalá Bucaram, the former president and his father, confirmed the man is his son but questioned why he was detained for extradition to the US without knowing the reasons. Reimberg’s latest update puts Bucaram and the other four suspects in custody following the arrests, with extradition to the United States described as the next step.