The harsh crisis that Ecuador is experiencing, a country in a state of war due to drug traffickers

Last Tuesday, the youngest president Ecuador has ever had, Daniel Noboa, who has also only been in power for 46 days, surprised the country, the region and the world. by declaring internal war against 22 organized crime groups (GDO) that in the last five years have turned this country of 17 million inhabitants into the most violent and insecure in all of Latin America with a rate of 46 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

(We recommend: 'Fito' and 'Capitán Pico', the escaped criminals who threaten security in Ecuador)

Through Decree 111, the president recognized the existence of an internal armed conflict and ordered “the mobilization and intervention of the Armed Forces and Police to guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity against transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.” .

And, according to government analysis, the current security crisis facing Ecuador is exponentially far from a systemic “wave of crime” by belligerent non-state actors; on the contrary, For the Executive, these acts constitute a “terrorist threat” against the pillars of state sovereignty and territorial integrity..

(You can read: Ecuador: President Daniel Noboa proposes raising VAT in the midst of the conflict with gangs)

The fed-up reached the presidential chair after, in a single day – last January 1 – 50 violent deaths were recorded in different sectors of the country, but mainly in the coastal city of Durán, a town taken by the GDO.

This was added to the complaints of the Attorney General of Ecuador, Diana Salazar, who publicly unraveled the Metastasis case, an intricate network of corruption and crime that involves, according to her data, 30 people including lawyers, police, prison agents and judicial operators. that benefited drug trafficker Leandro Norero, alias El Patron, murdered in prison in 2022.

Salazar denounced a plan to assassinate her by 'Los lobos', the same criminal gang that is responsible for the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August 2023. In her version, the prosecutor points to Fabricio Colón (leader of ' The wolves' and today a fugitive from justice) as the sender of the threat.

(Read also: President of Ecuador: Colombian prisoners 'we must leave them at the border')

However, Columbus is not the only one who escaped from prison. On January 4, President Noboa ordered the transfer of three criminal gang leaders to La Roca, a maximum security prison in Guayaquil, including Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, leader of 'Los Choneros', group linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel and Colombian groups, according to police data.

But 'Fito' left. Without information on when and how, the ringleader, who was serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder, fled from the Litoral prison in Guayaquil, where he remained for 12 years running drug businesses and was his stage for holding parties and fights. of roosters and even to record the video clip of a narcocorrido in his honor.

(Also: They are investigating whether 'Fito', the boss who unleashed chaos in Ecuador, entered Colombia)

The fact led to Last Monday, President Noboa declared a state of emergency due to “internal commotion” for 60 days..

Of course, the measure was not well received by the GDO, who decided to start a week of terror: 35 explosions in cars, pedestrian bridges and police units in at least 10 provinces of the country; prison riots that left 178 police officers, guides and prison officials detained inside the prisons. As of press time, only eight had been released.

In videos that went viral on social networks, the kidnapped uniformed officers, pointed with weapons, were forced to broadcast messages to President Noboa. “You declared war and you're going to have war,” one police officer read with obvious nervousness, while another on his knees asked for help so they wouldn't kill him.

(We recommend: How did Ecuador come to be in check due to criminal gangs?)

At dawn on Tuesday, Fabricio Colón, arrested on January 5 in Quito, escaped from the prison in Riobamba, a city in the central Ecuadorian Andes. Another 38 detainees accompanied him in the escape.

The same day, Ecuadorians witnessed, live, the armed raid on the TC Television studios in the city of Guayaquil. A group of armed men, identified with the 'Los Tiguerones' gang, threatened the journalists who were broadcasting the news around 2 in the afternoon.

With sticks of dynamite and other explosives, they forced the communicators to ask for help and beg that the Police not act. And although there were no deaths or injuries and the terrorists were arrested, they left a feeling of panic in the air that was amplified throughout the country.

(Also: Ecuador will require criminal records from foreigners on the border with Colombia)

Educational centers, public offices, shopping centers and businesses closed their doors and thousands of citizens, confused and nervous, struggled to reunite with their families and take refuge in their homes.

Thus came the declaration of “internal war” with which the president ordered “the mobilization and intervention of the Armed Forces and National Police in the national territory to guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity against transnational organized crime, terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors”reads the decree.

'Fito', the dangerous criminal who escaped from prison and caused chaos in EcuadorFrom prison, Adolfo Macías commanded the main gang in that country, 'Los Choneros'. Who is it?

(Can read: Noboa ratifies toughness against 'terrorists' after criminal leader's request to surrender)

The Government hopes to capitalize just over a billion dollars in 2024, a figure that will allow complete the installation of two prisons divided into supermaximum, maximum and high security areas, with capacity for 736 inmatesaccording to the official proposal that does not determine the duration of the collection measure.

Infiltration announced

Although the news, analyzes and official alerts constantly reported on the strengthening and expansion of the GDO, the explosion of violence and insecurity that Ecuador faced this week not only led President Noboa to declare an “internal armed conflict” and classify as “terrorists” to armed groups, but also photographed the serious infiltration and atomization of criminal groups. They have established barracks in 20 of the country's 24 provinces and have recruited around 20,000 people, according to the president's figure.

(Also read: This is how drug mafias in Brazil and Ecuador use drones for trafficking and attacks)

“Since 2019, Ecuador has presented a growing trend of violence due to clashes between various criminal organizations that seek economic positioning and legitimacy in the various serious crimes that occur in the country,” says a report on 'Characterization of organized crime in Ecuador'. This was carried out by the local Observatory that studies the escalation of violence in this country of 17 million Ecuadorians, also affected by ungovernability, the energy crisis, a serious economic crisis, the fiscal deficit and unemployment rates that are already causing emigration. of at least 65,000 Ecuadorians to the United States and Europe.

alert bell

The bell of the consolidation of criminal gangs occurred in February 2021 with the beginning of the macabre prison massacres carried out by members of criminal gangs. Decapitated, dismembered and incinerated bodies were the Dantesque scenes of 11 events where some 500 prisoners were murdered in the last two years.

“From the first moment of the prison massacres, the existence of a criminal alliance was revealed and, at the same time, the involvement of police officers and armed forces linked to organized crime was made public,” says the professor and analyst of security and violence issues Luis Córdova.

(You can read: What is happening in Ecuador? Analysis of a crisis that brings back very sad memories)

The existence of a criminal alliance was revealed and, at the same time, the involvement of police officers and armed forces linked to organized crime was made public.

The confrontation over the control of territories for international drug trafficking and local microtrafficking has extended to other activities such as illegal mining, vaccines, extortionate kidnapping and money laundering, which, in 2023, is around 285 million. Dollars.

Arturo Torres, a renowned Ecuadorian journalist who investigates violence and crime, assures that Criminal groups that initially grew for their services for drug trafficking cartels in Ecuador have quickly diversified their portfolio of criminal activities..

“'Los Lobos' – the most expanding gang in recent years – has extended its operations to the exploitation of illegal gold due to its ease of money laundering. “This criminal organization directly exploits 20 gold mines, extorts companies that have concessions in 30 more mines and controls 40 groups of illegal miners, which leaves them with profits of 3.6 million dollars per month,” he told EL TIEMPO.

(Also: Ecuadorians seek refuge in the midst of the 'state of war' against the mafia)

powerful tentacles

Drug trafficking has co-opted politicians, police, soldiers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and businessmen, according to different internal voices.

Furthermore, last December, the United States ambassador to Ecuador, Michael Fitzpatrick, without naming names, added to the situation by denouncing that Local journalists have links with drug traffickers and that money laundering is also done through soccer teams.

(Continue reading: 'Thank God for being alive': Ecuadorian channel journalists narrate their experience)

Ecuador is a State in ambush.

“We are more infiltrated than is supposed,” says academic and security consultant Freddy Rivera. In statements to the Plan V digital portal, he points out that Ecuador faces a criminal corporation that acts as a network and in coordination in the public and private spheres. In the public sphere with criminal infiltration in all institutions (such as justice, control entities or the Public Force), and in the private sphere through a parallel criminal economy that has also infiltrated private companies.

“Ecuador is an ambushed State,” concludes Rivera.

MAGGY AYALA SAMANIEGO
TIME CORRESPONDENT
QUITO

More news at eltiempo.com