Colombian authorities believe it is “possible” that Fito, the feared drug lord who escaped from a prison in Ecuador, is at the center Wave of violence which leaves at least 16 dead in five days, has invaded its territory. It all started on Sunday when police entered the Guayaquil regional prison and found no one Adolfo Macías, known as FitoLeader of the country's largest criminal group called Los Choneros, in his cell.
The government mobilized troops and launched a serious offensive against the drug trafficker, which led to violent reactions: riots in prisons, taking 175 prison employees hostage in prisons and on the streets, explosions, burning vehicles and gunfire.
“It is possible” that Fito reached Colombia, said Helder Giraldo, commander of the country’s armed forces, in an interview with W Radio this Friday. “There are 20 refugees [das prisões equatorianas] which we pay close attention to,” Fito added, the military commander added.
According to the Ecuadorian government, more than 20 drug trafficking groups with a total of around 20,000 members operate in the country in alliance with Mexican and Colombian cartels. Colombia, Ecuador's neighbor and the world's largest producer of cocaine, is closely monitoring Ecuador's declared “internal conflict” as it begins to spill over into its border.
For Giraldo, there is “a high probability” that the crisis in Ecuador will “deteriorate security conditions on the border with Colombia,” since the gangs have been given belligerent status by new Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.
Outofcontrol prisons
For many years, Ecuador was a country safe from organized crime, but for the United States and Europe it has become a new bastion of the drug trade, with factions fighting for control of the territory and opposing each other in their war against it state agree. In the last five years, the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants has increased from 6 to 46 in 2023, and the internal war has reached its most critical point, similar to what happened in Colombia last century, with an additional component: burning prisons.
Drug traffickers use prisons as crime bureaus from which they manage the drug trade, order murders, manage the proceeds of crime, and fight to the death with rivals for power. Amid the current crisis, Noboa announced the “repatriation” of 1,500 Colombian prisoners to ease overcrowding in prisons, where there is a surplus of 3,000 people.
However, the measure was not well received by the leftwing government of Gustavo Petro, which considers it a “mass expulsion” and problematic since the prisoners would be free on the other side of the border. The border area was militarized on Wednesday to prevent criminals from crossing. A video recorded in Machala Prison (Southwest) and confirmed by the police increased the terror this Friday. The images show a prisoner's body wrapped in plastic being thrown onto the prison street.
There are also unconfirmed images circulating of prisoners being abused, in which they are seen naked, on their knees or being kicked. On Thursday evening, three hostages were released from prisons in Esmeraldas (northwest) and Azuay (south).
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International flight
The wave of internal violence has provoked solidarity in the international community. The United States will send Southern Command chief Gen. Laura Richardson and senior counternarcotics and diplomatic officials to Ecuador to advise President Noboa, who has been in office since November.
“We accept the support of Argentina, we accept the support of the United States.” […] “This is not the time to say no out of selfishness or vanity,” said the 36yearold president. “We need military support in the form of personnel and soldiers,” as well as support in reconnaissance, artillery and equipment,” he added.
Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Spain, the European Union and the United Nations, among others, rejected the onslaught of drug trafficking in the South American country. France and Russia have warned their citizens not to travel to Ecuador.
“We knew it was a time bomb, a pressure cooker about to explode,” Ramón Salazar, a 38yearold worker in Quito, told AFP. After several days of curfew due to fear, activity has resumed in the main cities. Most businesses have reopened, public transportation has resumed and few companies continue to operate remotely.
On Tuesday, the drug trafficking offensive was at its worst when there was an armed attack on the press that went around the world. Misinformation and public panic have caused confusion, despite authorities' denials. On Thursday, the president proposed to Congress an increase in the valueadded tax (VAT) from 12% to 15% to finance the “internal armed conflict.”