Ecuador is experiencing a huge wave of violence and crime one day after confirming the escape of José Adolfo Macías, leader of the Los Choneros faction, one of the country's main criminal organizations, linked to the Sinaloa cartel.
Macías, who is known as “Fito” and considered one of the most dangerous people in the country, has led the Los Choneros faction since last year, when the former leader of the criminal group was killed in Colombia. According to information from Ecuadorian authorities, Los Choneros controls some of the main drug trafficking routes in the country and is in conflict with other organizations.
This was the second time that Macías escaped from prison in Ecuador. In 2013, he managed to escape from a maximum security prison located in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, however, three months later he was recaptured and arrested.
Macías' escape not only triggered a public security crisis in Ecuador but also a series of reactions from prisoners, who carried out rebellions to “demand” that transfers not be carried out or that updates be made to the controls of prison units.
Since Monday (8), when authorities confirmed Macías's escape, Ecuador has experienced a series of attacks with explosions, kidnappings of police officers, prison escapes, invasions of media outlets and public institutions, which have left the local population in disarray. panic and challenged the authority of the federal government.
Due to these incidents, which intensified on Monday, the country's president, Daniel Noboa, decreed on the same day a state of exception throughout Ecuador, which will initially last 60 days. With the representative's decision, the rights to freedom of association, inviolability of home, inviolability of correspondence in prisons and freedom of movement between 11pm and 5am were suspended. Furthermore, the measure also allowed the country's Armed Forces, in support of the police, to control prisons.
Noboa stated that the measure aimed to give all “political and legal support to Ecuador's security forces” to confront “narco-terrorist groups that intend to intimidate the government and society”. He recalled that his government would not “negotiate with terrorists” and that he will work to “return peace to all Ecuadorians”.
With the president's measure in force, the criminals decided to give an even more violent response to the Ecuadorian State. This Tuesday (9), the country experienced a series of new explosions, which hit everything from vehicles to the residence of the president of the National Court of Justice, Iván Saquicela, in the country's capital, Quito.
Other explosives were detonated in cities such as Esmeraldas, Cuenca, Loja and in the province of Chimborazo.
It was in Chimborazo that 32 prisoners escaped, including Fabricio Colón Pico, who had been arrested last week shortly after the State Attorney General, Diana Salazar, mentioned him in planning an alleged conspiracy against his life. Colón Pico is considered the regional leader of another criminal faction in the country, known as Los Cubanos.
During the prison riots, videos circulated in which people dressed in prison guard uniforms were seen reading messages from prisoners asking President Noboa to “stop his control actions” inside prison units.
The National Service for Comprehensive Care for Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) said that during the riots prison officers were retained.
The situation worsened even further in the South American country in the afternoon, when a group of armed criminals with their faces covered decided to invade the TV channel TC Televisión, of which the Ecuadorian State owns a part, in the city of Guayaquil.
At the scene, journalists and employees of the media outlet were taken hostage. The criminals interrupted the programming, which was live, and placed an explosive in front of a camera. Soon after, it was possible to hear gunshots and screams inside the TV studio. Local media reports indicate that one of the hostages was injured.
The police reported through their account on X (formerly Twitter) that they managed to regain control of the building and apprehend some of the criminals who invaded the place.
Simultaneously with the attack carried out against the broadcaster, armed criminals invaded the University of Guayaquil and caused panic among students and teachers, who locked themselves in the classrooms terrified of what was happening at that moment.
The attacks in Guayaquil began to occur on a widespread basis, several videos posted on social media showed how the population ran in the streets and tried to hide in slightly safer places. Businesses and public institutions closed their doors in fear of such violence. The police also confirmed the kidnapping of four police officers in different parts of the city.
In Quito, the police ordered the evacuation of the Carondelet presidential palace, moments after President Noboa promulgated another decree, in which he ordered the country's Armed Forces to intervene to neutralize the criminal organizations he classified as terrorists.
In his new decree, Noboa declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict” in Ecuador and identified 23 criminal factions as “terrorist organizations”. Among them are Los Choneros, Los Cubanos, Los Águilas, Los Lagartos, Los Latin Kings and Los R7.
The mayor of Quito, Pabel Muñoz, said that both his city and the country were going through “an unprecedented security crisis”, which is why he announced that security would be reinforced in critical areas and in public services. He also requested the federal government “to militarize the city's strategic facilities to ensure its functioning.”
In turn, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education ordered that school activities be carried out virtually in some educational establishments, including those located closest to prisons.
Dispute over trafficking and control of prisons
In addition to the attempt to weaken public power, the security crisis in Ecuador caused by criminal organizations is also being intensified by the dispute that exists between factions for control of drug trafficking.
Most of the criminal factions in the South American country have connections with international drug trafficking cartels located in Mexico and Colombia. The factions also fight for control of prisons, which since 2021 have recorded more than 400 deaths due to clashes between rival organizations.
Ecuador's Interior Minister, Mónica Palencia, said in a statement that the country's government is working “towards the recovery of a state of peace” and that “at this moment prisons are the specific center of attention.”
Experts consider that the violent acts carried out this Tuesday were a declaration of war by the factions against the Ecuadorian State and society, and that the government must act with “firmness and intelligence” to reestablish “order and security” in the country.
In an interview with the newspaper El UniversoJulio César Cueva, a lawyer specializing in criminal law, said that Ecuador's criminal organizations declared war “not on the president” of the country, but rather on the “citizens” this Tuesday. He noted that the Ecuadorian State must “enter with all its force legitimate as you have” to combat the factions and restore normality to the country.
According to the lawyer, Ecuador is experiencing a generalized crisis because criminal groups are still infiltrating some state institution
s. For Cueva, it is necessary for the government to provide a comprehensive response against organized crime at this time, granting pardons to police and military personnel who are carrying out operations.
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