Twenty-three point seven percent of 59 migrants interviewed at the Colombia-Ecuador border reported extortion, a joint report released Monday by Colombia's Ombudsman's Office says. In Ecuador's Carchi province, criminal groups used drones to watch migrants. At bus terminals, recruiters posing as tour operators sold migrants “safe routes” to third countries for as much as US$300.
The interviews took place in July 2026 along the Ipiales-Tulcán corridor, with technical support from the UN Human Rights Office. The report says new groups operate in Tulcán, El Carmelo and Espejo. It doesn't name the groups using drones, state how much they demand, or say whether police have opened cases.
Extortion on the route
The Rumichaca International Bridge links Ipiales, in Colombia's Nariño department, with Tulcán, the capital of Ecuador's Carchi province. The report calls it the countries' main land crossing and a transit corridor toward Central and North America.
Among those interviewed, 42.4% reported discrimination, 32.2% robbery and 13.6% physical attacks. Armed civilians were identified as the main alleged attackers. Victims linked them to 75% of reported sexual violence cases and 57.9% of robberies. Victims also linked members of the security forces to 21.4% of extortion cases and 20% of discrimination cases.
Three-quarters filed no complaint. That figure was 75%. The report says some women and girls faced pressure to engage in “survival sex” for food or shelter. The figures come from 59 interviews; they aren't presented as covering the entire migrant population.
Most recorded movements, 79.7%, went from south to north, and 66.1% were entries into Colombia. Most migrants travelled from Chile, Peru and Ecuador; 71.2% planned to continue home to Venezuela. Many, especially Venezuelans, wanted to check on relatives after the June 2026 earthquake. Work or income drove 69.5% of movements; 16.9% cited family reunification, and 13.6% cited violence.
Aid and border control
Ipiales had about 25 international aid organisations in 2024 and about five in 2026, the city's migrant-aid coordination group told the mission. The Catholic Church runs the Pastoral Social shelter, which serves about 70 people a day and struggles to provide food. Children and teenagers made up 40% of those it sheltered in the first half of 2026.
The report says donors have shifted money from social projects toward border-control technology, including biometric systems, and security strategies. The report announced U.S. cooperation with Colombia in March 2025 and said officials signed an agreement with Ecuador in June 2026. Ecuador's Frontera Segura strategy begins with a pilot in Carchi province. Trade site Segurilatam reported that the U.S. State Department's narcotics and law enforcement bureau provides training and equipment. The report doesn't say whether the pilot targets the groups using drones.
Competing armed groups, limited response
The report maps Colombian armed groups and Ecuadorian gangs competing over corridors used for drugs, contraband, weapons, human trafficking and migrant smuggling. On the Colombian side, it lists the Coordinadora Nacional, known by the Spanish initials CNEB, a bloc of former FARC guerrilla fronts that split from the Segunda Marquetalia, and Comuneros del Sur, a faction that broke away from the central command of the ELN. President Abelardo de la Espriella ended peace talks with both groups in late August and early September.
On the Ecuadorian side, the report names Los Choneros and Los Lobos, and cites members or collaborators of Tren de Aragua. It doesn't say those groups carried out the drone surveillance.
The ombudsmen called for intelligence work against trafficking networks, better protection for women and children, and public funding to replace lost aid. They said authorities can't handle the border “only from a migration-control or security perspective.” The report says the Ecuador border accounts for 49% of irregular migration recorded by Migración Colombia. In 2025, after Ecuador announced it would deport 1,000 prisoners, 410 people crossed into Colombia at Rumichaca without joint protection protocols.