President Novoa declares ‘state of emergency’ after prison leader of drug gang escapes
Armed masked assailants invade the studio… background investigation not revealed
The Associated Press and American media reported that in Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, South America, on the 9th (local time), about 10 armed men invaded Ecuador’s TC Television public broadcasting station and broke into the studio where a live broadcast was being broadcast.
The masked men attacking the TV studio with stick-shaped explosives that appeared to be dynamite and combat firearms were broadcast live on TV.
They stormed in, shouting that they had explosives, and gunshots could be heard in the background. It has not yet been confirmed whether any injuries occurred among the broadcasting station employees.
This incident is even more shocking because it occurred a day after President Daniel Novoa declared a national emergency in relation to recent security instability.
Previously, following the prison escape of Adolfo Macias, the leader of the Los Choneros gang, President Novoa declared a national emergency on the 8th for 60 days due to “the occurrence of armed fighting in the country” and ordered the military and police to maintain strong security. instructed. A night curfew was also imposed on residents from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day.
However, the situation in Ecuador, which is in an extremely deteriorating state of security, with gang violence rampant, including the kidnapping of police officers, and attacks on prisons and other military units, continues despite the declaration of a state of emergency.
After the TV station attack, President Novoa again issued another emergency declaration, designated 20 drug trafficking organizations operating in the country as terrorist organizations, and ordered the military to “neutralize” them to the extent permitted by international human rights law. He gave the order and virtually entered into a sweep.
Shortly after the intrusion into the broadcasting station, the Ecuadorian police chief announced that all the masked gunmen who broke in this time had been arrested.
“This incident is clearly a terrorist incident,” police commander Cesar Zapata said in an interview with Teleamazonas TV station.
At the same time, the police announced that they had arrested the suspects and confiscated all firearms and explosives they were carrying, but did not disclose how many people were arrested.
The Ecuadorian government does not disclose how many attacks like this have occurred since the escape of the gang leader who was preparing to move prison.
The police investigating the bomb explosion near the residence of the Chief Justice of Ecuador and the kidnapping of four police officers on the 8th are keeping quiet even when asked by reporters about who was behind these incidents and who organized the operation.
The kidnapped police officers were forcibly taken, one from the capital Quito and three from the city of Quevedo.
In recent years, Ecuador has seen a flood of violence, murders and kidnappings linked to drug trafficking organizations, and the government has announced suspects among major drug gangs after each similar attack.
The whereabouts of drug lord Macias are still unknown. Prosecutors arrested two prison guards on charges related to his escape, but neither the police, the prison, nor federal prosecutors were able to determine where Macias had run away and was hiding.
He escaped from a maximum security prison in February 2013, but was recaptured a few weeks later.
Ecuador, which is sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, two of the world’s major cocaine producers, has been used as a drug trafficking route to Europe and North America in the past few years, and the frequency of violent incidents such as murders and kidnappings, especially in large cities, has increased significantly.
Domestic security has collapsed to the extent that there is not a single day of peace due to power struggles and conflicts of interest between criminal organizations.
New President Noboa, who declared war on violence and won the presidential election, announced in a message posted on Instagram, “I will not give up the war on crime until peace is found for all Ecuadorians.”
However, previous governments, including his predecessor, President Guillermo Laso, also declared war on the criminal groups ruling Ecuador and fought mainly by declaring a national emergency, but the same situation is still being repeated.
Macias was sentenced to 34 years in prison for murder, organized crime, and drug trafficking and was serving his sentence at La Regional Prison in Guayaquil, but the power of the criminal organization is still strong.
During last year’s presidential election, the Los Coneros gang, which is linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, showed off its power to the extent of personally assassinating presidential candidate Fernando Valavicencio.
Correctional authorities and experts say that the gang is in real control even inside the prison, and that Marcia has been directing all criminal operations outside the prison by directing his subordinates while in prison.
[키토( 에콰도르)= AP/뉴시스]
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.