A few hours after the feared leader of the criminal gang “Los Choneros” began his escape, prison riots broke out in up to six prisons in the country. The situation has caused difficulties for the new government of Daniel Noboa, who imposed his first curfew to bring the situation under control and locate the fugitive.
The security crisis continues to plague Ecuador. Just a day after Osé Adolfo Macías Salazar, alias “Fito,” disappeared from his prison, the government of Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency to locate him and after six prison riots broke out. The state of emergency will allow the armed forces to control prisons in support of the police, as they have done on previous occasions.
“I have just signed the emergency decree so that the armed forces have full political and legal support for their actions,” Noboa said in a message on the social network Instagram.
The president blamed drug trafficking gangs, contract killers and organized crime for the country's prison crisis that has been going on for several years. Noboa reiterated his intention “not to negotiate” with these gangs in order to reduce violence. And all this at a time when one of the country's most important criminals is on the run.
The police and armed forces of Ecuador have spared no effort to find out the whereabouts of José Adolfo Macías Salazar, alias “Fito”. The government announced the deployment of more than 3,000 uniformed personnel with specialized investigations to the search.
“The search continues. The decision was that this person should be placed in another prison so that he cannot continue to operate (…) The most likely thing is that the information was leaked hours before,” said the Minister of Communications Roberto Izurieta this Monday, March 8. December, the local media.
Without giving more details about the investigation, Izurieta told the local Teleamazonas network that the operation will continue because it is a “special operation that has characteristics of some of these criminals who are almost terrorists,” he explained and assured He is also confident that the search will end “successfully”.
That is, the Ecuadorian government tried to transfer Macías to another prison where he would experience less “debauchery,” as Izurieta explained, but after the failed trial, none of the authorities made any statements about when exactly the criminal leader disappeared.
And it was precisely on August 12, 2023 that the government, then in the hands of President Guillermo Lasso, decided to carry out a major police and military operation that also saw the transfer of “Fito” along with other high-profile prisoners. risky.
Lasso said at the time that the transfer, which took place from the Guayaquil Regional Prison to La Roca Penitentiary, was a “security measure for citizens.”
A transfer that did not happen, however, because almost 30 days later, the Guarantor Judge Diego Poma annulled the decision and ordered the return of Macías to the Guayaquil Regional Prison, from which he escaped on Sunday, December 7th.
The judge's decision was heavily questioned by politicians and public opinion in Ecuador, as there were not many arguments for “Fito” to remain in Guayaquil.
“Alias Fito, the most dangerous criminal left in prison, escapes (all the others were murdered or released early),” wrote José Serrano, who was Minister of the Interior during the government, in his X account by Rafael Correa ( 2007-2017).
“The cell or 'suite' where Fito was 'staying' was found to be immaculately 'clean', it was time to 'pack up' all of the criminal's belongings including watches, guns, whisky, mobile phones, laptop… he took everything with him , because he said he wouldn’t come back,” Serrano added.
The leader of “Los Choneros”
This is one of the largest criminal gangs in Ecuador, which is said to have ties to Mexican cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel or even the Oliver Sinisterra Front (FOS) in Colombia, with which it is estimated to have been involved in maritime trafficking operations bringing drugs to the United States States.
The criminal group, whose origins date back to the 1990s and whose birthplace is the coastal town of Chone, has also promoted micro-drug trafficking, smuggling, extortion and contract killings, further complicating the delicate situation in the country and unrest within prisons.
Since 2011, the gang has been decimated by authorities' imprisonment of many of its leaders, and since then the criminal group's targets have focused on the streets, minor crimes and a focus on gangs, according to specialist site Insight Crime.
Ecuador: 2023, a year in which the country stared into the abyss
Some workers prepare the flag of Ecuador at the National Assembly in Quito ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Daniel Noboa on November 23, 2023. © Galo Paguay / AFP
According to the National Police, Los Choneros are currently in conflict with Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones, amid disputes that also involve citizens.
Several international reports consulted by CNN or EL PAÍS show that this criminal gang has exploited one of the most important drug routes across the Pacific. According to the independent network of investigative journalists Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the route leads to Ecuador, where 74% of the cocaine entering Central and North America is concentrated.
With Portal and local media.