世界最大のエビ養殖産業、強盗の標的に　エクアドル

【グアヤキルＡＦＰ＝時事】世界最大のエビ輸出国、南米エクアドル。世界の食卓に並ぶ甲殻類の５匹に１匹はエクアドル産のエビだ。（写真はエクアドル・グアヤス州タウラのエビ養殖場）
　そのエクアドルのエビ養殖業者が今、警備費で数百万ドル規模の出費を余儀なくされている。
　「われわれは日々、警察よりも重武装している犯罪者の標的となっている」。そう語るのは、エビの養殖・輸出関連４０００業者を束ねる全国水産養殖会議所（ＣＮＡ）のホセ・アントニオ・カンポサーノ会長だ。
　ＣＮＡによると今年１～８月には会員６４業者が、海上あるいは陸上輸送ルート上で強盗などの被害に遭っている。死傷者が出たケースもあった。
　グアヤキル湾プエルトロマでは出航しようとしていたエビ業者６人が、武装集団に至近距離から銃撃され、積み荷を盗まれた。一団はスピードボートで走り去ったという。
　被害に遭った業者たちは、グアヤス州の州都グアヤキルの港の波止場に血まみれでたどり着いた。
　他にもエビの輸送トラックが高速道路で武装集団に乗っ取られ、運転手が重傷を負う事件もあった。
　ＣＮＡによると、養殖場自体も強盗の被害に遭っている。
　エビ養殖地となっているグアヤキル近郊プナ島の漁師（５１）は「商品を陸へ揚げるときには襲撃に備えて、危険な場所を避けている」と語った。「海軍も巡回しているが、養殖場の近くまでは来ない」と言う。
　海軍職員はＡＦＰに対し、安全上の理由から巡回に同行させることはできないと述べた。
　カンポサーノ氏によるとグアヤキル湾のプンタロマや、エビを包装工場に運ぶ沿岸道路などは襲撃が多い「危険ゾーン」で、ＣＮＡではレーダーや独自の技術を使って情報を集め、警察に伝えている。
　だが地域によっては、治安部隊がまったくいない「無法地帯」だという。
　グアヤス州でエビ養殖場を経営するクレベル・シゲンサ氏は、麻薬ギャングが縄張りとする地域で６月に同僚が誘拐された事件を受けて警備員を雇い、ビデオ監視システムを導入したと語った。
　ＣＮＡの推計によると、会員全体で今年だけですでに１億ドル（約１５０億円）を警備に費やしている。
　隣接するエルオロ州のエビ生産者組合のエディソン・ブリト会長によると、犯罪組織は「用心棒代」と称して会員から金銭を巻き上げている。「海軍の支援がないので受け入れるしかない。金を払うしかない」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/11/28-16:43）

From robberies on land to hold-ups at sea by rifle-toting, hooded men, Ecuador's shrimp industry is facing a wave of violent crime that is threatening the country's star export.
The South American country is the world's largest shrimp exporter, putting one in every five of the crustaceans on tables around the world, and this pink gold raked in a record $7.3 billion in 2022, according to official figures.
However, shrimp farmers are being forced to shell out millions of dollars in private security, which could impact the industry's competitiveness compared to countries like India or Vietnam where production is cheaper.
We continue to be victims, daily, of criminals who are better armed than the police, said Jose Antonio Camposano, president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), which unites 4,000 shrimp producers and exporters.
In the first eight months of 2023, the CNA registered 64 crimes against its members, including violent robberies at sea or along roads, some leaving deaths and injuries.
In one attack, armed men shot at six shrimp workers at close range as they left southern Puerto Roma, stealing their cargo and racing off in speedboats.
The workers arrived bloodied at a dock in the port city of Guayaquil, which has become a hotbed of organized crime linked to international drug trafficking.
Shrimp producers, speaking off the record, told AFP that criminals were robbing their wares to finance other illicit business.
In another attack, a driver for a shrimp farm was seriously injured after being hijacked and robbed by armed men along a highway.
- 'We work defensively' -
According to the CNA, robberies also take place at production pools where shrimp are farmed on shore.
The criminals sell the shrimp at local markers or to traders who attempt to introduce them into the export chain.
When we leave to take our merchandise to land, we work defensively and locate the risk points where we could be attacked, said a 51-year-old local from Puna, one of several islands near Guayaquil dedicated to shrimp, which has dethroned bananas as the country's main non-oil export.
The navy patrols, but doesn't dare get near the shrimp farms.
Navy officials said they could not take AFP on their patrols for security reasons.
Camposano said that attacks typically take place in the same red zones such as Punta Roma in the gulf of Guayaquil, the southern Jambeli archipelago and two strategic coastal roads used to transport shrimp to packing plants.
Using radar and its own technology, the CNA has gathered information on the hotspots and passed them on to police.
However, Camposano slammed the total absence of security forces in some areas, which he calls no-man's land.
Kleber Siguenza, owner of a shrimp farm in the Guayas province of which Guayaquil is the capital, said a colleague of his was kidnapped in June in an area besieged by drug gangs, and he has hired private guards and installed a video surveillance system.
The CNA estimates its members have spent $100 million on security this year alone.
Edison Brito, president of a shrimp producers association in the neighboring province of El Oro, said members are also being extorted by criminal groups in exchange for supposed security.
We have given in because there is no support from the navy. There is no choice but to pay.