CNN Indonesia
Thursday, January 11, 2024 1:19 pm IWST
Ecuador is in a national emergency after Fito, boss of the Los Choneros drug cartel, escaped from prison. (REUTERS/KAREN TORO)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
President Ecuador Daniel Noboa implemented a national emergency after Los Choneros drug kingpin Jose Adolfo Macias alias Fito escaped from prison last weekend.
The day after Fito’s escape, Monday (8/1), Noboa implemented a state of emergency and curfew.
Noboa also deployed soldiers on the streets and in prisons for 60 days. The steps and the state of emergency aim to find the boss of Los Choneros.
Ecuador’s presidential spokesman, Roberto Izurieta, said the country was doing everything it could regarding the case.
“The full force of the state was brought to bear on finding this very dangerous individual,” Izurieta said.
Furthermore, Izurieta said that Fito is a criminal with very dangerous characteristics and tends to carry out terrorist activities.
“The search continues, he will be found. He must be found,” the spokesperson said.
With this status, the Ecuadorian armed forces receive political and legal support to carry out their tasks against “narcoterrorists”.
“We will not negotiate with terrorists or stop until we restore peace to all Ecuadorians,” Noboa said. Al Jazeera.
This drug gang then responded by declaring war and threatening to execute residents and security forces.
They also sparked prison riots, explosions in public places and launched attacks that killed at least 14 people.
The criminal group then broke into the television station on Tuesday and took some journalists hostage.
The next day, the government declared the country to war. This situation has sparked fear among residents, including the United Nations (UN).
Considering these conditions, Fernando Carrion, a security expert at the Latin American Institute of Social Sciences in Quito, believes that several criminal groups are rebelling against the president’s latest tough approach.
Ecuador had planned to tighten security in drug kingpins’ prisons as much as possible, he said The Guardian.
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2024-01-11 06:19:14
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