Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, yesterday declared a state of emergency across Ecuador, including the prison system, following the escape of public danger number one, the notorious “Fito” — his real name is Jose Adolfo Macias—, the leader of the Los Tsoneros gang, and prison uprisings.
“I signed a decree” declaring a “state of emergency” so that “the armed forces have every political and legal support for their actions,” Mr Noboa said via Instagram.
The decree authorizes the military to operate to enforce order on the streets and in prisons, while a curfew is in effect from 11:00 p.m. to 05:00 a.m. (local time).
The forces security forces are working to locate “this extremely dangerous person”, who escaped yesterday Sunday, “a few hours” before a control operation at the prison in Guayaquil (south), said the government's communications secretary Roberto Issurieta.
The prosecution announced yesterday through X (the former Twitter) that he is conducting an investigation against two prison officials who allegedly facilitated the escape of “Fito”. The thug had been serving a 34-year prison sentence since 2011 for his leading role in organized crime gang, drug trafficking and murder.
The day before Sunday, the police chief admitted to the press that the leader of the Tsoneros gang was missing, not “where he should be”, that is, in a cell of the maximum security wing of the prison in the large port of Ecuador. The prosecutor's office began investigating the “alleged escape” of the 44-year-old, leader of a gang that experts say has around 8,000 members and has become a key player in drug trafficking, which flourishes in Ecuador.
'Fito » had also escaped in 2013, together with other prisoners, from a maximum security prison. He was arrested after three months.
Mr Isurieta described the “level of infiltration” of gangs into the state apparatus, which he described as “very high”, while he described the prison system as “failed”.
< p>“The search (for 'Fito') continues (…) He will be found, he must be found,” he said, referring to this “criminal with extremely dangerous characteristics, whose activities show characteristics of terrorism”.
“We are not negotiating with terrorists and we will not stop until we have restored peace for all the citizens of Ecuador,” said Mr. Noboa.
Guards held hostage
Police and military yesterday, heavily armed, entered several prisons in the country where riots took place, especially those where guards had been kidnapped.
Footage uploaded to social networking sites showed guards being held by hooded men with knives, who demanded that the authorities act with “prudence” and “not send the army inside the prisons”.
Video that the army later released showed prisoners in a prison yard with their hands on their heads. The Directorate of Prisons (SNAI) assured that there were no injuries in the “incidents”.
“We took measures that allowed us to regain control” of the prisons, President Noboa said.
“Fito” has repeatedly made headlines in the press in Ecuador, after the assassination in early August of one of the key presidential candidates. The victim, a former journalist and parliamentarian, complained shortly before he was killed by a group of Colombian executioners that he had received threats from the leader of the Tsoneros.
“Fito”, with long hair and a beard, is said to be a rather charismatic person. He studied law in prison and received a law degree. A song in praise of him, created by a Mexican music group, with a video clip containing images taken inside his prison cell, recently made the rounds on social networking sites.
Ecuador, a country that in recent years has turned into a transit hub for cocaine traffic to US and European markets, is being swept by a wave of gang violence.
From 2018 to 2023, the homicide rate increased by almost 800%, from 6 to 46 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Prisons have become a theater of repeated massacres, due to the merciless clash of rival gangs. Since February 2021, dozens have been committed, with a total of more than 460 dead inmates. The authorities so far seem unable to really control the situation.
Mr Noboa, the son of a tycoon, was elected in autumn 2023 promising to solve the insecurity problem and regain control of the prisons.
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