Long a peaceful haven sandwiched between top cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years as rival gangs with links to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control.
On Tuesday, gangsters declared war following the prison escape Sunday of one of Ecuador’s most powerful narco bosses.
After the escape of Jose Adolfo Macias, aka ‘Fito’ – leader of Ecuador’s biggest gang Los Choneros – Noboa on Monday declared a countrywide state of emergency and nightly curfew.
Gangs retaliated, taking police officers hostage, setting off explosions in several cities and on Tuesday storming a studio of state-owned TC Television in Guayaquil with guns and explosives.
Police entered the studio after about 30 minutes of chaos.
President Daniel Noboa called the crisis an ‘internal armed conflict’ and ordered the military operations against gangs he described as ‘terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.’
A manhunt is under way for Fito, who had been serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.
