Published January 10, 2024
It started with a storming of an Ecuadorian television station. Masked men with firearms took staffers and reporters hostage. Police have since retaken the station, but like dominoes, it’s one of many stories showing that the Latin American nation could be in political freefall.
Dozens of gangs have taken to the streets, declaring open war on the public. It led to President Daniel Noboa to declare a state of emergency. Thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed to find Adolfo Macías, a gang leader who escaped custody. Noboa also empowered the military to take over prisons and patrol the streets. A curfew is in effect and will remain so for the next 60 days (via NYT):
BREAKING: Gunmen storm TV channel in Ecuador, take hostages pic.twitter.com/UYQrYoOBcC
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 9, 2024
BREAKING:
The Government of Ecuador has declared “A State of Internal Armed Conflict”
Criminal gangs have taken up arms against the state & are storming universities, TV studios & other places
Here, armed gangsters storm the University of Guayaquil
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 9, 2024
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.townhall.com
RELATED: Ecuador Declares State of Emergency After Jailbreak by Nation’s Most Wanted Criminal
Published January 9, 2024
The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, declared a 60-day nationwide state of exception and curfew on Monday in response to a new wave of gang violence that erupted following the disappearance of José Adolfo Macías, Ecuador’s “most-wanted criminal.”
Macías seemingly vanished from the prison housing him in Guayaquil over the weekend.
Macías, commonly known as “Fito,” is the leader of Los Choneros, one of the most dangerous gangs in Ecuador, with extensive ties to Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. Macías was serving a 34-year sentence that began in 2011 on organized crime, drug trafficking, and murder charges.
Macías was missing from his cell on Sunday just before he was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security prison, automatically prompting the dispatching of 3,000 law enforcement agents to search for him throughout the Guayaquil regional prison system. Local authorities announced on Monday that they do not know Macías’s current whereabouts.
Sunday’s incident marks the second time Macías has escaped prison. In February 2013, the gang leader briefly escaped captivity until local authorities captured him again three months later.
Macías’ disappearance prompted riots in several of Ecuador’s prisons. Argentine news outlet Infobae reported on Monday that it had reviewed and confirmed footage of prison staff being subdued by inmates and being forced to deliver a statement to Noboa urging him to reconsider broad security measures he announced in the new year.
Videos circulating on social media show masked inmates holding prison security staff at gunpoint and threatening to kill them. The inmates proclaim themselves to be a “real mafia,” unlike El Salvador’s “stupid gangs.”
Urgente!!
Nuevo mensaje para el presidente Daniel Noboa, donde Amenazan con matar a todos los guías si la policía o militares intentan ingresar a la cárcel.
También advierten qué Ecuador no es El Salvador y que tampoco son esas pandilla cojudas, dicen que son la Mafia de verdad.… pic.twitter.com/da6Qx3ic5l— Emergencias Ec (@EmergenciasEc) January 9, 2024
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: War Erupts Between Government Of Ecuador And Drug Cartels – Narco Foot Soldiers Take Over News Station (VIDEO)
Published January 10, 2024
Ecuador, a major gateway for Colombian cocaine that is shipped to Mexico and Europe, is wracked by violence today as the foot soldiers of the traffickers attacked TV stations, prisons and the Presidential Palace. The spreading violence follows the prison escape of the leader of one of the major drug rings:
Ecuador’s president has declared a state of emergency after one of the country’s most notorious gang leaders escaped from prison, followed by a violent uprising with explosions and the kidnapping of several cops.
Adolfo “Fito” Macias, the leader of the feared Los Choneros gang, escaped Sunday from La Regional prison in Guayaquil, where he was serving 34 years for drug trafficking, murder and organized crime. , , ,
Two prison guards have been charged with helping the escape — nearly 11 years after Macias was recaptured after a previous break.
The gang leader’s escape was followed by clashes among inmates at six of Ecuador’s overcrowded prisons, including guards taken as hostages.
The major media is largely ignoring this story or treating it as an insignificant sideshow. I think that is a mistake. This outbreak of violence is very serious. Warning. You may find some of the following videos disturbing.
This video shows the narco foot soldiers storming a TV station in Quito and taking the personnel hostage:
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.thegatewaypundit.com
