South America
The cartels’ next victim: Ecuador is sinking into drug violence
A TV presenter in the power of drug gangsters: The battle between the cartels is escalating in Ecuador these days.
© NTB / Imago Images
Gangsters attack a TV studio, prisoners take guards hostage, there is shooting in the streets: why drug violence in Ecuador is now escalating.
It is no coincidence that the latest escalation of violence in Ecuador originated in Guayaquil. In recent years, the port city on the Pacific coast has become an important transshipment point for cocaine from Peru and Colombia – the two neighboring countries Ecuador and largest exporters of the drug in the world. According to investigators, around a third of the cocaine seized in Europe now comes from Ecuador. The attack by a terrorist squad on a television studio in Guayaquil now highlights the massive security problem in the country.
Ecuador: prison revolts, bombings, kidnappings
On Tuesday afternoon (local time), masked and heavily armed men broke into a studio of the state television station TC during a live broadcast, took hostages and spread a message from their alleged employers: “We are on air so you know not to play with the mafia “. After half an hour, a special police squad freed the hostages and took 13 men prisoner – that too in front of cameras. Ten people are said to have been killed in the operation. But the TV studio is just one of many locations in the drug war that is currently escalating.
There were bombings and kidnappings of police officers in several cities such as Esmeraldas in the north and the capital Quito. Images circulating on social media show real street battles between security forces and armed gangsters shooting at each other in the middle of traffic. Inmates have captured guards in various prisons, and more than 130 judicial officers are said to be currently being held hostage. Two of their victims are said to have killed the prisoners in front of cameras. However, this information has not yet been confirmed.
Ecuador’s President Noboa declares a state of emergency
The latest escalation was triggered by the escape of Adolfo “Fito” Macías from a prison in Guayaquil on Sunday. Macías is considered the head of the “Los Choneros” gang, which controls the drug business in the Guayaquil region and, according to the federal police in Ecuador, is subordinate to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel – one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world, whose ex-boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is now in a US prison. The Sinaloa cartel has also been pushing into the European drug market for several years via the Netherlands, warn Europol investigators.
The day after Adolfo Macía escaped from prison in Guayaquil, President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency and ordered the army to take control of the prisons. Because the real rulers of the prisons are the drug gangs who organize their business under the protection of the prison walls. By escaping, gang leader Macías apparently wanted to avoid being transferred to a high-security prison, reports the New York Times. His guards are said to have helped him escape.
Can Ecuador’s army defeat the drug cartels?
In the future, President Noboa wants to end the notorious lawlessness in prisons with a new high-security prison in which the gang leaders will actually have to be held. Noboa has only been in office since November and promised a decisive fight against drug gangs and corruption during the election campaign. But now his tough course seems to be fueling violence in the country.
After Adolfo Macía’s escape, Noboa issued a decree on Tuesday declaring 20 named drug gangs terrorist organizations and instructing the army to dismantle them. The attack on the TV studio, the revolts in the prisons and the open violence in the streets are the “narcos”’ immediate reaction to the state’s declaration of war. In the general chaos, another notorious crime boss also managed to escape from prison on Tuesday. Fabricio Colón Pico alias “The Wild One” leads the gang “Los Lobos” (The Wolves), who are enemies with “Los Choneros” of Adolfo Macías.
It is uncertain whether Ecuador’s army can bring the situation in the country under control. In Mexico, the cartels’ fight for the best smuggling routes to the USA only escalated after 2006, when then-President Felipe Calderón ordered the military to intervene. Since then, it is estimated that at least 300,000 people have fallen victim to the violence there. In El Salvador, on the other hand, the government has recently succeeded in curbing escalating gang violence through rigorous measures.
Sources: New York Times / taz.de / El Telegrapho / La Hora / El Pais / Forbes / El Universe / deutschlandfunknova.de