Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa declared a nationwide state of emergency on Monday, including in the prison system, after an “extremely dangerous” drug lord escaped from his high-security cell and riots broke out in several prisons.
Issued on: September 1, 2024 – 12:06 a.m
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“I have just signed a decree for a state of emergency so that the armed forces have full political and legal support in their actions against these 'narcoterrorists',” Noboa said on his Instagram account.
General Cesar Zapata, the national police commander, said at a news conference that the country's armed forces had determined that one of the inmates in Guayaquil prison was missing.
While Zapata did not name the inmate, prosecutors said they would investigate “the alleged escape” of Jose Adolfo Macias, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal group.
Macias, whose pseudonym is “Fito,” was sentenced to 34 years in prison in 2011 for various crimes, including drug trafficking and murder.
Los Choneros is a criminal organization linked by authorities to extortion, murder and drug trafficking, among other things, and is accused of controlling the country's main prisons.
“We are grateful for the courage and commitment of law enforcement who intervened in an operation with more than 3,000 people in prison in search of the most wanted prisoner,” presidential spokesman Roberto Izurieta told the press conference.
Rival criminal organizations often clash in Ecuador's overcrowded prisons, and official figures show more than 400 inmates have died since 2021.
(France 24 AFP and Portal)