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I saw videos on X showing some of the chaos happening in Ecuador today. It really looks like something out of a movie. We’ll get to the video in a moment but first here’s the backstory. Sunday, one of Ecuador’s most notorious gang leaders escaped from prison. That led Ecuador’s president to declare a state of emergency and a massive manhunt was underway Monday.
Ecuador has declared a state of emergency after one of the country’s most dangerous criminals vanished from his cell and prison guards were overpowered and taken hostage amid riots at prisons across the country.
A huge manhunt was under way on Monday as thousands of soldiers and police searched for Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, the convicted leader of the powerful drug gang Los Choneros.
The 44-year-old drug lord was reported missing on Sunday after he disappeared from the prison in the port city of Guayaquil where he was serving his sentence just before he was due to be transferred to a maximum security facility in the same city…
Macías had been serving a 34-year sentence since 2011, convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organized crime.
Drug gangs and related crime have been a major issue in Ecuador for several years. Last year a presidential candidate named Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated as he left a campaign event. Fito, the escaped gang leader, had made threats against him just days earlier. Current president, Daniel Noboa has only been in office for two months. He ran on a platform of cracking down on crime so Fito’s escape is bad news for him.
The escape Sunday was only part of what was going on. At the same time, there seems to be a coordinated attack by gang members against the prison system. There were riots which led to prisoners taking over and threatening to kill guards in at least five prisons.
Ecuador’s security forces are trying to re-establish order in at least six jails where riots broke out on Monday.
