The Ecuadorian army has removed hundreds of meters of internet and satellite television cables from one of the country's most dangerous prisons controlled by drug trafficking gangs, authorities reported Monday.
In images released by the army, we see soldiers equipped with ladders climbing and running on the roofs of the prison in the city of Machala (south), then removing and cutting the connections.
Soldiers removed around 1,500 meters of various internet and television cables connecting the cells to the outside world as the country is plunged into a wave of violence orchestrated by criminal organizations from prisons.
According to an Army statement, the cables were “suspected to have been used to plan illegal activities from within the prison.”
In 2022, according to prison statistics, 17% of prisoners had access to the Internet and 19% to a cell phone in the last three months.
Police often confiscate weapons, drugs and cell phones in the country's prisons.
According to the newspaper El Universo, prisoners can pay $10 a week for calls and spend up to $3,000 to buy their own cellphone.
In Ecuador, around twenty organizations sow terror and use prisons as operational centers where they manage drug trafficking and the proceeds of crime and fight to the death with rival gangs.
Since January 7, Ecuador has faced an unprecedented wave of criminal violence following the escape of the dangerous gang leader Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”.
President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency following unrest in prisons, hostage-taking and attacks against law enforcement and neighborhoods.
According to an official report, since January 9, police have made nearly 2,800 arrests and killed five “terrorists,” as authorities now call the members of 22 criminal gangs registered in the country.