Ecuadorian police announced Thursday the arrest of two men suspected of being involved in the assassination Wednesday of the prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the irruption of armed men live on the set of a public television channel on January 9.
“We arrested two suspects involved in the assassination of prosecutor César Suarez” in Guayaquil, “after an investigative procedure that allowed us to identify their alleged participation in the criminal act,” said the head of the general police. , César Zapata, on the social network
He added that the “evidence” against them found by police included a rifle, two pistols, magazines and two vehicles.
The spectacular live appearance of heavily armed, hooded men, pinning journalists and employees of the TC channel to the ground under threat, shocked the country faced with a wave of violence triggered by criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking.
The rapid intervention of the police made it possible to put an end to the hostage-taking without causing any casualties and to arrest 13 attackers.
According to the prosecution, the murdered prosecutor was in charge of determining which gang had carried out this assault.
César Suarez was shot dead while driving his vehicle in a neighborhood of the port of Guayaquil. In the photos obtained by AFP, we see several bullet holes which passed through the driver’s side side window, although it was apparently armored.
Prosecutors are under threat from the twenty or so criminal organizations operating in Ecuador, once a haven of peace ravaged by violence after becoming the main export point for cocaine produced in the neighboring states of Peru and Colombia. .
In June, prosecutor Leonardo Palacios was killed by gunmen in the town of Duran, neighboring Guayaquil.