Ecuador decrees a state of emergency due to the escape of “Fito”, leader of the largest criminal gang in the country

President Daniel Noboa decreed this Monday the State of exception throughout Ecuador after confirming the escape of the criminal Adolfo Macías from a prison in Guayaquil.

“Fito”, as the dangerous criminal is known, is considered the leader of the “Los Choneros” gang, one of the main organized crime gangs in Ecuador to which the authorities attribute ties to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel.

Last Sunday, authorities did not find him in the cell to which he was about to be transferred in the maximum security prison La Roca, in the city of Guayaquil.

For this reason, and because of the commotion caused by the criminal’s escape, the president intervened and declared the so-called State of Exception.

“What we see in the country’s prisons is the result of the decision to deal with this type of criminals. Therefore, on the part of the government we have taken actions that allow us to regain control over the deprivation of liberty centers that has been lost in recent times. years. And in response, these narco-terrorist groups try to intimidate us and believe that we will give in to their demands,” Noboa said.

And he added: “I have given clear and precise instructions to the military and police commanders to intervene in the control of prisons. I have just signed the decree on the State of Exception so that the Armed Forces have all the political and legal support in their action”. Actions. “.

In this way, for sixty days, Noboa suspended the rights to freedom of association, the inviolability of the home, the inviolability of correspondence in prisons and freedom of movement from 11pm to 5am.

The sentence “allows the mobilization of the Armed Forces to support, in a complementary way, the internal security work of the National Police, both in detention centers and in the streets in general”.

Noboa said “the time is gone when convicted drug traffickers, hitmen and organized crime dictated to the government what to do.”

“I invite citizens, since this fight belongs to everyone, to give them their support too. What we are experiencing is an example of the fact that things need to change in the country and that the laws we have are not enough to live in peace, so there is no room for opportunistic politicians trying to get credit at the expense of a crisis of prison safety. . “We will not negotiate with terrorists nor will we stop until we restore peace to all Ecuadorians,” concluded the Ecuadorian president.

Regarding the investigation into Macías’ escape, the Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted two prison guardswhich according to him facilitated the criminal’s escape.