War on drugs: Ecuador imposes ‘traffic light’ curfew to avoid collapse of economy and daily life

The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, announced this on Monday will enforce a “traffic light” curfew.in force in the country since January 8 due to the security crisis that erupted at the beginning of the year, attributed to an attack by criminal groups defined as terrorists.

Noboa anticipated in an interview with Teleamazonas television that he will announce the measure with whichand the Cantons will have different timetables of curfews and different regulations.

With the provision, the reactivation of the economy is supported Well, otherwise the “blow” will not only be dealt to tourism, but also to the small business owner, entrepreneur and the economy in general, he added.

“We cannot allow these narco-terrorist groups to do this destroy our way of life and our daily work”, commented the governor.

Extend the state of exception?

Noboa declared a state of emergency, with a curfew from 11.00pm to 5.00am at a time when a series of attacks were taking place while the police were trying to locate Adolfo Macías “Fito”, leader of the “Los Choneros” criminal gang, to transfer him to a maximum security prison.

The searches began on Sunday 7th, when they discovered that the prisoner, one of the most dangerous in the country, he had escaped.

According to the decree the state of emergency it will last sixty dayswith the possibility of an extension of thirty days.

“I think so, today, the way I see things, We will have to extend these another 30 days.. The work of the Armed Forces and the Police is working and we are dealing strong blows to these narco-terrorist groups,” Noboa said.

He stated that at this moment they cannot stop: “We cannot rest and we can’t believe this was all resolved in two weeks. We have to keep fighting.”

According to official reports, security operations arrested 2,763 people during the first thirteen days of the government’s declaration of an “internal armed conflict” against organized crime, of which 158 were arrested for alleged terrorism.

Between January 9 and 21, authorities say they killed five alleged members of these gangs now classified as terrorists, while two police officers were murdered and eleven others were freed from several kidnappings apparently carried out by these mafias.

During this period, 1,003 firearms, 1,222 bladed weapons, 126 gun magazines, more than 35,700 bullets and 4,802 explosives were seized.

Ecuadorian law enforcement has also seized more than 10 tons of drugs and more than $23,100 in cash.

According to the Government, the Daily average of violent deaths has decreased 28-6 for the actions taken regarding safety.

In working to improve security, Noboa believes that the prison agency (SNAI) needs to be reformed “completely” and that it is necessary “permanent presence of the military” in the prison system.

The army has been responsible for the country’s security since January 9, when the government declared an internal armed conflict against crime and identified 22 criminal groups as terrorists.

EFE