Masked men stormed the set of a public television station in Ecuador with weapons and explosives during a live broadcast on Tuesday, and the president issued a decree declaring that the country had entered an “internal armed conflict.”
The men, armed with pistols and what looked like sticks of dynamite, walked onto the set of TC Television in the port city of Guayaquil during a news broadcast broadcast live to thousands of homes across the country and shouted that they had bombs . Gunshot-like noises could be heard in the background. It was not immediately clear whether station staff were injured.
Authorities have not said who was behind the television station seizure or a series of other attacks that have rocked the South American country recently, but they are tracking the apparent escape from prison of two of Ecuador's most powerful drug gang leaders.
Alina Manrique, TC Television's news director, said she was in the control room across from the studio when the masked men stormed into the building. One of them pointed a gun at her head and told her to lie on the ground, Manrique said.
Click here to view related media.
Click to expand
The incident was broadcast live, but the station's signal was switched off after about 15 minutes. Manrique said some of the attackers fled the studio and tried to hide when they realized they were surrounded by police.
“I’m still in shock,” Manrique told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “Everything has collapsed… All I know is that it's time to leave this country and go very far away.”
Police officers arrest one of the unidentified gunmen who broke into a studio of state television station TC live in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on January 9, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty Images
Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks, including the kidnapping of several police officers, after a powerful gang leader apparently escaped from prison over the weekend. President Daniel Noboa declared a national state of emergency on Monday, a measure that allows authorities to suspend people's rights and mobilize the military in places such as prisons.
Shortly after the gunmen stormed the television station, Noboa issued another decree classifying 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorizing the Ecuadorian military to “neutralize” these groups under international humanitarian law. It was also said that the country had fallen into an internal armed conflict.
The head of Ecuador's national police later announced that authorities had arrested all of the masked intruders. Police commander César Zapata told Teleamazonas television that officers had confiscated the weapons and explosives the gunmen were carrying. He said 13 people were arrested.
The Ecuadorian Attorney General's Office said those arrested would be charged with terrorism. It tweeted that it would present the charges in the coming hours and that prosecutors were working at the TC TV station crime scene to collect more evidence.
Ecuadorian law provides for a prison sentence of up to 13 years for those convicted of terrorism.
The government has not said how many attacks have taken place since authorities announced that Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito,” went missing from his cell in a low-security prison on Sunday was found. He was scheduled to be transferred to a high-security facility that day.
On Tuesday, Ecuadorian officials announced that another gang leader, Fabricio Colon Pico of the Los Lobos group, had escaped from a prison in the city of Riobamba. Colon Pico was arrested Friday as part of a kidnapping investigation and also accused of trying to assassinate one of the country's top prosecutors.
Other attacks included an explosion near the home of the president of the National Judicial Court and the kidnappings of four police officers on Monday evening, or whether they believe the actions were coordinated.
Police said one officer was kidnapped in the capital Quito and three in the city of Quevedo.
Los Choneros is one of the Ecuadorian gangs that authorities blame for a surge in violence, largely linked to drug trafficking, that reached new heights last year with the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Authorities say the gang has ties to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.
Macías' whereabouts are unknown. Prosecutors opened an investigation and charged two guards in connection with his alleged escape, but neither police, the prison system, nor the federal government confirmed whether the prisoner had escaped from the facility or was possibly hiding inside.
He escaped from a high-security facility in February 2013 but was recaptured weeks later.
Noboa said in a message on Instagram that he would not stop until he “brought peace back to all Ecuadorians” and that his government had decided to confront crime. The wave of attacks began a few hours after Noboa's announcement.
The state of emergency was widely used by Noboa's predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, to counter the wave of violence that has swept the country.
Macías, who was convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organized crime, was serving a 34-year sentence at La Regional prison in the port of Guayaquil.
Los Choneros and other similar groups linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels are fighting over drug trafficking routes and control of territory, including inside detention centers, where authorities say at least 400 inmates have died since 2021.
Experts and authorities have acknowledged that gang members effectively rule from prison, and Macías is said to have continued to control his group from the detention center.