INPE warns that Peru will deport Ecuadorian prisoners if Daniel Noboa implements the same measure: “It will be reciprocal”

The head of the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE), Javier Llaque, warned on Thursday that Peru will deport Ecuadorian prisoners if measures announced by the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, aimed at reducing prison overcrowding amid the wave of violence unprecedented that is affecting the neighboring nation is experiencing.

In an interview broadcast by RPP, the official explained that Peruvian prisons currently host 4,500 foreign prisoners, the majority (3,300) of Venezuelan nationality. “The Ecuadorians have 162 in various prisons in the country”, of which at least fifteen – he recalled – belonged to ‘Los Tiguerones’, the criminal gang that attacked the Ecuadorian channel TC Televisión live.

This organization, dedicated to drug trafficking, extortion, hitmen and arms trafficking, was born from “Los Choneros”, a group of drug traffickers transformed into a powerful prison gang, led by Jorge Luis Zambrano, alias “Rasquiña” , murdered in a prison commercial in Manta on 28 December 2020.

“We have identified them […] under control and determined who I am. There has been concern because the president of Ecuador announced that he will repatriate or expel 1,500 foreigners, but [esa cifra] includes Venezuelans and Colombians. There are only about a hundred Peruvians in Ecuadorian prisons,” Llaque said.

“If by mutual agreement the authorities decide to return them, we will have 162 convicts, so it will be a mutual issue. It will not create concerns about overcrowding [carcelario]just in case”, he observed. President Dina Boluarte declared, for her part, that the possible deportation of Peruvian prisoners must follow a “due process” so that the security of the nation is not put at risk.

“If that were the case, they would obviously go to prison,” the president said of the announcement by her counterpart, whom she phoned the day after declaring an internal armed conflict in the territory. Boluarte also stated that the borders “are protected” with the support of the Armed Forces and the National Police (PNP), after the state of emergency was made official in the neighboring regions.

Noboa’s proposal received rejection from the new president of the National Assembly of Regional Governments of Peru (ANGR), Werner Salcedo, as well as governors Luis Neyra (Piura) and Sigismundo Cruces (Tumbes), who called on the president to support an initiative meeting with the Ecuadorian leader to stop this measure.

“I think so immediately [Boluarte] should have contact with the president [Noboa] to ensure that this does not happen, because it would put us at a disadvantage with respect to crime. This, combined with the topic we already have. Because we must be aware that we already have a problem with criminal gangs in Peru,” Neyra said in a press conference.

A Colombian soldier stands guard after increased violence in Ecuador at the Rumichaca International Bridge. Photo: REUTERS/Andrés Ceballos

Cruces, for his part, stressed that if the measure is implemented, border surveillance would have to become extreme. “We must have permanent surveillance there, especially by checking the passes for all criminals who enter our sector,” she clarified during his speech.

Organized crime in Ecuador has led to an escalation of terror this week, with riots in several prisons, kidnappings, explosions, attacks and even an armed assault on a television station. The riot occurred as the Noboa administration prepared to implement a plan to regain control of prisons, many of which are internally dominated by these groups.

The violence has moved to the streets, making the country one of the most violent in the world, with 45 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. The State Department has even announced that several top US officials will visit the nation in the coming weeks to increase the exchange of intelligence information.

2024-01-12 05:29:00
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