Police find half a ton of marijuana stashed under floor of tourist bus that crashed in Ecuador leaving 23 dead

  • Nearly 600 plastic-wrapped packages were found on bus near Quito, Ecuador 
  • Nineteen of the 23 victims were Colombian citizens, authorities have said 
  • Ecuador and Colombia share border regularly used by drug-trafficking gangs 

Police officers have found at least half a ton of marijuana hidden in the floor of a tourist bus that crashed in Ecuador leaving 23 people dead. 

Nearly 600 plastic-wrapped packages of the drug were found by a sniffer dog in the wreckage of the bus which crashed on Tuesday near Quito.

National anti-narcotics police director General Carlos Alulema told reporters that three buses from Colombia had already been stopped this year and 'more than 400 kilos of cocaine and 600 of marijuana were found in similar circumstances'.

The South American countries share a border regularly used by drug-trafficking gangs to ship cocaine to the United States.

Police officers have found at least half a ton of marijuana hidden in the floor of a bus that crashed near Quito in Ecuador leaving 23 people dead

Police officers have found at least half a ton of marijuana hidden in the floor of a bus that crashed near Quito in Ecuador leaving 23 people dead

The bus overturned and crashed into three houses after a collision with an all-terrain vehicle on Tuesday

The bus overturned and crashed into three houses after a collision with an all-terrain vehicle on Tuesday

Colombian prosecutors said on Thursday that 80 kilos of cocaine had been recovered from the bus.

But Ecuadoran prosecutor Ruth Palacios told the press conference 'marijuana was found, solely and exclusively'.

Colombia said Wednesday that 19 of the 23 victims were its citizens.

Palacios said the authorities would question the 22 injured passengers, mostly Colombians, to try to determine 'who is responsible' for the drug-trafficking.

Nearly 600 plastic-wrapped packages of the drug were found by a sniffer dog. Ecuadoran prosecutor Ruth Palacios said the authorities would question the 22 injured passengers

Nearly 600 plastic-wrapped packages of the drug were found by a sniffer dog. Ecuadoran prosecutor Ruth Palacios said the authorities would question the 22 injured passengers

'Then it will be determined who stays and who is allowed to leave,' she said.

The bus overturned and crashed into three houses after a collision with an all-terrain vehicle.

Ecuador transport colonel Julio Barba said the driver 'probably overused the brakes... which produced an overheating of the brake system leading to a loss of control of the vehicle.'

One of the two drivers, who was injured in the crash, has been arrested.

Traffic accidents are among the leading causes of death in Ecuador, averaging seven deaths and 80 injuries a day. 

Ecuador and Colombia share a border regularly used by drug-trafficking gangs to ship cocaine to the United States

Ecuador and Colombia share a border regularly used by drug-trafficking gangs to ship cocaine to the United States

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