Gang violence
Ecuador: 178 correctional officers held hostage
Police conduct a controlled explosion of a suspicious vehicle parked a block from El Inca Prison. photo
© Carlos Noriega/AP
The situation in Ecuador is escalating: mutinous prisoners take correctional officers hostage. There are a number of arrests outside. “We are in a state of war,” said President Noboa.
In the course of the violent clashes between criminal gangs and state security forces in In Ecuador, prisoners have taken 178 correctional officers hostage.
A total of 158 prison guards and 20 administrative staff are being held by mutinous prisoners in seven prisons, the prison authority said.
Many prisons in Ecuador are controlled by crime syndicates. Often the security forces simply ensure that the prisoners remain in the detention centers. Within the walls they are largely left to their own devices.
The government of President Daniel Noboa recently declared around 20 criminal groups as terrorist organizations by decree and sent the armed forces to fight the gangs. Across the country, members of criminal gangs then carried out explosive attacks, set vehicles on fire and attacked security forces.
More than 300 arrests
In an unprecedented show of force, gunmen recently entered the premises of the state television station TC Televisión in the port city of Guayaquil and took several journalists and employees hostage. Gunshots and people screaming could be heard in the recordings. Since then, the government has taken tough measures. 329 suspects were arrested in operations across the country. Firearms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary devices, boats and vehicles were also seized, said Chief of General Staff Jaime Vela. Accordingly, soldiers and police officers also freed 41 hostages from gang violence. Five suspected gang members were killed by security forces. “All of these groups are now military targets,” said military chief Vela. Ecuador is in an internal armed conflict in the fight against organized crime, a decree said.
In a radio interview, Head of State Noboa warned officials against collaborating with the crime syndicates. “We are in a state of war and must not surrender to the terrorist groups.” Judges, police officers and soldiers who work with the gangs will be tried for terrorism.
Judges and police officers also involved
According to security experts, the gangs have already infiltrated large parts of the state and society. Late last year, more than two dozen suspects, including judges, prosecutors, police and corrections officers, were arrested in nationwide crackdowns on organized crime. “The investigation shows how drug trafficking penetrated state institutions,” said Attorney General Diana Salazar at the time.
The security situation in Ecuador had recently deteriorated dramatically. The murder rate of around 46.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year was the highest in the history of the once peaceful Andean country and one of the highest in Latin America. Multiple gangs with ties to powerful Mexican cartels are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes. Ecuador is an important transit country for cocaine from South America that is smuggled to the United States and Europe.