QUITO (AP) — The government of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Thursday declared as terrorists criminal groups linked to international drug trafficking that in the past two years have unleashed a growing wave of violence throughout the country with attacks with explosive devices, kidnappings , extortion and murders.
This new strategy will allow the Armed Forces to join the fight against criminal structures through actions such as investigation, location and capture of those responsible.
To reduce the growing crime wave, by order of the government, the Armed Forces had already joined preventive patrols in the streets, especially in sectors of great conflict and on highways, although they did not have the authorization to join an open fight against the mafias.
The decision adopted by the State Security Council, which also suggested that the president sign a decree with urgent coercive measures, including the use of lethal weapons to combat this threat.
Retired General Wagner Bravo, recently appointed Secretary of Public Security, affirmed that these groups, which he did not identify, “are a threat that threatens the structural elements of the State and consequently its integral security.” He did not offer further details.
Although he did not specify which criminal gangs have been declared terrorists, the main ones with the greatest repercussion in the country are Choneros, Fatales, Gángsters, Lobos, R7, Lagartos, Tiguerones and Chone Killers, which control sectors of the Ecuadorian coastal provinces, where They pass the narcotics on their route, mainly to the United States and Europe.
The core function of the Army was to protect the borders and deal with external threats. During the morning, a vehicle with two uniformed men was ambushed by unknown persons on a highway between the coastal town of Playas and Guayaquil, which triggered an attack with rifles. One of the soldiers died.
Last year Ecuador seized 210 tons of drugs, especially cocaine, and so far this year, the amount stands at 60 tons, according to the authorities. Police reports indicating that a large quantity of narcotics from Ecuadorian ports were seized in European ports are also frequent.
The country also registers daily murders linked to organized crime, attacks with explosive material against businesses, assaults, kidnappings and intimidation by alleged criminals linked to organized crime gangs.
