Violence in Ecuador: explosions, kidnappings of police officers and escape of a very dangerous criminal

Shortly after the president Daniele Noboa a state of exception has been declared throughout Ecuador due to the escape of the criminal Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito” from the Guayaquil prison, documents have been registered acts of violence, including vehicle fires and explosions, kidnapping of four police officers and the escape of another criminal leader.

On social networks and digital media they reported the bridge explosion and vehicle fire with a petrol tank in a working-class neighborhood south of Quito, as well as a motorcycle on fire in another area of ​​the same capital, although no injuries were reported.

The police confirmed on their X account that they had arrested two citizens suspected of one of the explosions recorded in the south of Quito. He said they were found a firearm and 16 blocks of explosives.

The president of the National Court of Justice, Ivan Saquicela, said in an interview with local radio Democracia that an explosion occurred at midnight meters from his home in Quito. “It might be a coincidence or not, but We should investigate why it happens in front of my house“he said. The judge asked that his security be increased.

Several burned cars were also recorded in the cities of Esmeraldas and Riobamba, where the the police also investigate a riot and the escape of a prisoner from the prison of that city. Among those who fled was Fabricio Colón Pico, regional leader of the Los Lobos criminal gang, accused by Attorney General Diana Salazar of preparing an alleged attempt on his life.

The mayor of Riobamba, John Vinueza, in statements to Radio Pichincha, assured on Tuesday that, after a riot that occurred in that prison, escape of 39 prisoners, including Colón Pico. He added that 12 detainees had been recaptured. The National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) later confirmed the escape.

Rodrigo Cáceres, governor of the province of Chimborazo, whose capital is Riobamba, 160 kilometers south of Quito, told the digital media Diario de Riobamba that Colón Pico will have to be transferred to another prison on Monday and that when this measure is implemented, Accidents that ended in escape occurred. However, no other authority, not even the penitentiary one, has confirmed this news.

The Ecuadorian government’s decision came after Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, disappeared from prison in Guayaquil on Sunday. leader of one of the main organized criminal groups, known as Los Choneros, with close ties to the Mexican Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, according to authorities. His whereabouts remain uncertain.

The Minister of the Interior, Mónica Palencia, said in a statement that the government is working “to restore a state of peace” and that “at this moment prisons are the specific focus”, not to mention the news of Colón Pico’s escape.

Meanwhile, the police confirmed on the social network another member of that body from the country’s capital.

These acts take place after President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency across the country on Monday, including prisons, with a night curfew, almost a day after his government confirmed the disappearance of Fito, alias, from a prison of the city of Guayaquil.

Noboa warned that he will not “negotiate with terrorists” and that he will not stop “until he restores peace to all Ecuadorians.”