Drug traffickers: not less than 5 cops killed in a sequence of assaults in Ecuador

No less than 13 assaults by drug gangs killed 5 cops and injured two in Guayaquil, Ecuador on Tuesday, the Inside Ministry stated. Authorities say 61 cops have died this yr on account of the violence.

Gangs of drug traffickers attacked police premises and gasoline stations with explosives and firearms in response to the switch of detainees from Guayas 1 jail to Guayaquil. Throughout the evening, the penitentiary administration (SNAI) additionally reported “pictures fired inside” Guayas 1. “It’s a response of organized crime”, declared to the press the Inside Minister, Juan Zapata.

Learn additionally: Ecuador: a riot in a jail causes about 40 deaths and a mass escape

The jail administration had earlier introduced that eight jail guards had been briefly taken hostage on Tuesday in Esmeraldas (northwestern Ecuador) whereas the SNAI was organizing the switch of 200 detainees from a penitentiary institution. from Guayaquil to different prisons. “The eight brokers of the Jail Safety and Surveillance Corps retained have been launched” in Esmeraldas, the SNAI introduced.

In a video posted on Twitter, two folks carrying explosives round their our bodies had been introduced as jail guards, whereas an inmate denounced the “corruption” of the jail system. “If you’d like warfare, you may get warfare,” a hooded man stated, including, “we’ll blow these guards up.”

State of emergency declared in two provinces

Precautions have been taken within the two provinces most affected by the violence linked to this scourge. “I declare a state of emergency within the provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas, and a curfew from 9 p.m.” (2 a.m. GMT), President Guillermo Lasso stated in a speech broadcast on radio and tv. tv. Efficient instantly, the measure will final for 45 days. The Structure permits the president to declare a state of emergency and name within the military when the nation is confronted with severe inside unrest.

The Ecuadorian president affirmed that “these acts of sabotage and terrorism are a declaration of open warfare in opposition to the rule of legislation, the federal government and in opposition to all of you, the residents”.

To proceed studying: Ecuador to pardon 5,000 prisoners to unclog prisons

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Schooling for its half suspended courses in Esmeraldas, capital of the province of the identical identify, bordering Colombia.

Drug traffickers, some linked to Mexican cartels, are waging a warfare on the streets and in prisons throughout the nation, the place massacres have claimed almost 400 lives since February 2021. Situated between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest producers of cocaine, Ecuador has gone from being a drug transit nation to that of a serious distribution heart for Europe and the USA. In 2021, authorities seized a file 210 tons of medicine, principally cocaine. Because the starting of the yr, seizures have totaled 160 tons.