Ecuador: criminals kidnap four police officers amid state of emergency due to drug trafficking violence

At least four police officers were kidnapped in Ecuador in the midst of an emergency declared on Monday by the president Daniel Noboa, after the escape of the leader of the main drug gang who was being held in a prison in Guayaquil, the police institution reported. In the coastal city of Machala (southwest), “three police officers were kidnapped, who were on duty at the location”, while a fourth uniformed man was kidnapped in Quito, the police reported via their social online account X around midnight.

He added that in the capital Three individuals driving a “blackened vehicle with no license plate” took the officer away.

LOOK: Alias ​​​​Fito, Ecuador’s most dangerous criminal boss, escaped from prison

The kidnappings occurred after Noboa declared a state of emergency for 60 days across the countryincluding the prison system.

The Police confirmed the veracity of this video published on the networks. “Our units (…) are mobilized to locate our colleague kidnapped this evening in Quito, as well as those responsible; “This fact cannot go unpunished”, they indicated in a conversation with the press. pic.twitter.com/xySn3AnEYX

— Viviana Erazo (@vivianaerz) January 9, 2024

The measure includes a six-hour curfew which started at 11pm and will last until 5am local (4am to 10am GMT).

The president said that the emergency will allow Armed forcess intervene in the control of prisons, where the retention of prison guides was reported, without the body that manages the prisons (SNAI) having specified the number of detainees or whether they were released.

“We will not negotiate with terrorists nor will we rest until we return peace to Ecuadorians,” express Noboa in a video posted to his Instagram account.

The president, who did not mention the escape of the gang leader The ChonerosHe attributed the situation in prisons to his government’s actions to “regain control” of the centers.

Noboa announced last week that it will build two maximum security prisons – in the style of the one built by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in his war against gangs – in the provinces of Pastaza (east) and Santa Elena (southwest), to isolate the most dangerous inmates. .

Explosions

Police and military are looking for Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, who was serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and homicide. His gang is the most feared in the country and competes with others for drug trafficking routes.

In this case, the Public Ministry informed on the social network filed a complaint against two prison officers “who were involved in the escape” of the criminal 44 years old and who graduated in Law while behind bars.

The alert was raised on Sunday, when the police were unable to find him in the Regional Prison of Guayaquil in an operation.. The government’s Communication Secretary, Roberto Izurieta, stated in an interview with the Teleamazonas channel that “very likely” there were “infiltrations” regarding an imminent security operation at the prison and Macías escaped “hours before”.

They joined the police plagiarism on Monday night explosions on the coast of Esmeraldas (northwest and close to the border with Colombia), one of the Ecuadorian provinces controlled by the mafias.

According to police, several people threw an explosive device near a police station and two vehicles were burned in another location, leaving no victims.

In Quito, a car explosion was also reported in the south of the city and the explosion of a device near a pedestrian bridge.

Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador is bleeding due to the war for power between drug organizations. The year 2023 ended with more than 7,800 homicides and 220 tons of drugs seized, a new record in the country.

Since February 2021, clashes between prisoners have left more than 460 people dead. Furthermore, street homicides between 2018 and 2023 grew by almost 800%, from 6 to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.