Ecuador ‘in state of war’ against drug cartels’ terror campaign

Ecuador has deployed more than 22,400 soldiers to neutralize a campaign of terror waged by gangs that has claimed 16 lives, after its armed forces engaged in a savage deadlock with organized crime.

In response to a government crackdown on organized crime, the drug cartels have been pursuing a bloody campaign of kidnappings and attacks since Monday, prompting Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa to declare a state of emergency.

Noboa, 36, has vowed not to yield in its “war” with 22 criminal gangs, as continuous land, sea, and air patrols, random body and car searches, prison raids along an enforced curfew are in place.

“Yield to evil: never!” Noboa, in office since November, said in a video message broadcast on television Thursday. “Fight tirelessly: always!”

“They wanted to instill fear, but they aroused our ire,” defense minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said on social media.

“They believed they would subdue an entire country but forgot that the armed forces are trained for war,” he further added.

Straddling the equator on South America’s west coast, Ecuador has been in a state of turmoil following a prolonged period of escalating dominance by multinational cartels, who exploit its ports for the transportation of cocaine to the United States and Europe.

Out of a population comprising of about 17 million people, more than 20,000 are known to have been members of the criminal gangs of the country.

The recent surge of aggression was ignited by the revelation on Sunday, after the jailbreak of Jose Adolfo Macias, a notorious drug lord recognized as “Fito,” who holds significant influence in the nation.

The gangs, who have declared a “war” against the government, have threatened to execute civilians and security forces, and additionally, have provoked multiple prison uprisings, triggered blasts in crowded areas, and carried out assaults resulting in the deaths of at least 14 individuals.

According to the prison authority, more than a hundred prison guards and staff have been taken hostage by the cartels.

This attack, in particular, spread panic among the general population, many of whom left work and closed shops to return to the safety of their homes.

“Today we are not safe, anything can happen,” said Luis Chiligano, a 53-year-old security guard in Quito who explained he was opting to hide rather than confront “the criminals, who are better armed”.

The drug cartel’s presence in Ecuador has resulted in a significant surge in the country’s homicide rate, with a fourfold increase observed between 2018 and 2022.