(Guayaquil) Inmates of the Guayaquil prison from which the gang leader “Fito”, public enemy number one in Ecuador, escaped in January, launched an “internal revolt” on Wednesday, the prison administration of the Guayaquil reported. country (SNAI).
This mutiny was initiated by “a group of people deprived of their liberty”, but the SNAI indicated on X that “control (had) been successfully regained over 80%” of the prison.
AFP journalists heard gunshots coming from this prison, which is part of a vast penitentiary complex in Guayaquil (southwest) from which the head of the most powerful prison escaped on January 7. country’s criminal gang, Adolfo Macias, still on the run.
PHOTO MARCOS PIN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Soldiers observe the mutiny from the outside.
The latter was serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.
His escape was followed by multiple mutinies in Ecuador’s prisons and scenes of violence unleashed in the streets by gangs.
To restore order, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared the country in a state of “war” against the gangs and sent more than 20,000 soldiers to the field.
Once considered an island of peace in Latin America, Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest producers of cocaine, has been hit by a wave of violence in recent years, linked to feuding gangs. trafficking routes and power in prisons.