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During a live broadcast in Guayaquil, Ecuador, gangsters suddenly stormed the studio. According to media reports, these are said to be narco-terrorists.
According to reports, the news program “El noticiero” was broadcast when the studio was overrun by more than twenty heavily armed men.
This refers to drug traffickers who attempt to prevent enforcement of anti-drug laws through systematic threats or use of force.
The raid was apparently in response to a nationwide state of emergency declared by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. He took this measure after a notorious drug lord escaped from prison in Ecuador.
“They want to kill us all”
Apparently it wasn’t the only attack. The terrorists are said to have targeted cities and, armed with pistols, machine guns and sticks of dynamite, launched a series of apparently coordinated attacks across the country.
As the newspaper El Universo reported, panicked reporters and cameramen flooded newsgroups with calls for help: “They want to kill us all. Help us,” one message reportedly said.
Ecuador’s national police announced on social media that special forces had been stationed on the ground “to deal with this emergency.”
Riots in numerous prisons
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa said on Monday (local time) on the online service Instagram that he wanted to use the state of emergency to ensure that the armed forces received “full political and legal support” in the fight against drug crime. “We will not negotiate with terrorists nor rest until we return peace to all Ecuadorians,” he stressed.
Influential gang leader José Adolfo Macías alias ‘Fito’ escaped from the maximum security prison in the port city of Guayaquil on Sunday. The prosecutor’s office said it had filed charges against two prison guards for possibly aiding the escape.
The leader of the criminal gang ‘Los Choneros’ has been serving a 34-year prison sentence since 2011 for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder. Macías had already escaped from prison in 2013. At the time, he was caught again after three months on the run.
According to Ecuador’s prison authority SNAI, riots broke out in numerous prisons across the country after the gang leader’s escape, which were stopped by heavily armed police and soldiers. Videos distributed by the military showed prisoners lying in a prison yard with their hands above their heads. According to SNAI, there were no injuries.
According to Ecuadorian police, there were also outbreaks of violence in the gang-controlled province of Esmeraldas in the northwest of the country after the declaration of a state of emergency. An explosive device exploded near a police station and two vehicles were set on fire. So there were no injuries.
Several police officers kidnapped
Police also reported the kidnapping of four officers while on duty. Three police officers disappeared in the coastal town of Machala in the southwest of the country. Another police officer was kidnapped in the Ecuadorian capital Quito by three kidnappers in a “vehicle with tinted windows and no license plate,” police announced on the online service X.
Ecuador lies between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest cocaine producers, but has long been considered relatively peaceful and stable. In recent years, the country itself has become a hub for international drug trafficking. Since then, violent crime has also increased dramatically.
Violent riots between rival gangs also occur again and again in prisons. President Noboa was elected in late 2023 on a promise to curb violence in the country and regain control of prisons. (dzc/AFP)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
