Ecuadorian security crisis

Ecuadorian security crisis
Part of the War on drugs (in Ecuador) and the spillover of the Colombian conflict

Ecuadorian Army assaulting the Litoral Penitentiary, in Guayaquil
Date28 December 2020 – present
Location
Ecuador
Status Ongoing
Belligerents

 Ecuador

Los Choneros
Latin Kings
Sinaloa Cartel		 Los Lagartos
Los Lobos
Los Tiguerones
Los Chone Killers
Jalisco New Generation Cartel
Commanders and leaders
Guillermo Lasso
 José Adolfo Macías Villamar

Fabricio Colón Pico [es]

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
This article is part of
a series about
Guillermo Lasso
  • Federal Government
  • Presidential campaigns
  • Referendums
  • 2023 (constitutional)
  • Related

Since around 2018,[1] Ecuador has suffered a security crisis resulting from conflicts between criminal organizations with connections to drug trafficking.[2] In recent years, coca leaf production has risen in neighboring Colombia[1] and Peru,[3] with both cocaine and coca base entering Ecuador by land and leaving by sea.[1]

Meanwhile, FARC and the Colombian government reached a peace agreement in the mid-2010s. Multiple groups fought to fill the vacuum left by FARC, and FARC members who opposed the peace deal relocated to Ecuador. Additionally, Ecuador's use of the United States dollar makes it easier for gangs to launder money.[4]

Inter-gang conflicts began after the murder on 28 December 2020 of Jorge Luis Zambrano, leader of the criminal syndicate Los Choneros, considered one of the oldest and most dangerous in the country.[5] Zambrano's death led to the criminal groups known as Los Chone Killers, Los Lobos, Los Pipos, and Los Tiguerones, which functioned as substructures of Los Choneros, to separate from the gang and start a war against its former leaders for control of the country's prisons and drug trafficking through a series of massacres and other criminal acts.[6][5][7] A 2022 report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said that the government had "lost control" of its prison system.[1]

The focus of the violence was at first focused within the prisons of the country,[6] with events such as the February 2021 Ecuadorian prison riots and the September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot, both of which occurred in 2021 and the second considered one of the bloodiest prison massacres in Latin American history.[5] In total, 503 inmates were murdered in the country during 2021 alone.[8]

In recent years, the wave of violence has also manifested itself outside prisons, and international criminal organisations now operate within Ecuador, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and the Albanian mafia.[1] This has been reflected in citizen perception, as shown by a survey carried out by the firm Click Research in October 2021, which indicated that crime was considered by the citizens as the biggest problem that the country was going through.[2] The wave of violence has generated a sharp rise in the number of murders in the country.[9] In 2021, the intentional homicide rate reached 14.04 per 100,000 people (the highest since 2011),[10] compared to a rate of 7.8 in 2020.[11] These figures continued to increase in 2022. The most violent areas in the country includes the cantons of Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón. It saw 53 murders between January and February 2021 and 162 in the same period in 2022.[12]

  1. ^ a b c d e Turkewitz, Julie (12 July 2023). "How a Peaceful Country Became a Gold Rush State for Drug Cartels". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b González, Mario Alexis (2021-10-20). "Narcotráfico, asesinatos y cárceles precipitaron la emergencia de seguridad". Primicias. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  3. ^ "Peru's coca leaf cultivation reaches record high in 2022". Al Jazeera. 27 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  4. ^ Glatsky, Genevieve; León Cabrera, José María (17 August 2023). "How Narco Traffickers Unleashed Violence and Chaos in Ecuador". The New York Times. Archived from the original on Dec 22, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Loaiza, Yalilé (2021-09-30). "Choneros vs Lobos: cómo son las dos megabandas con 20.000 presos que están provocando un baño de sangre en las cárceles de Ecuador" [Choneros vs. Lobos: how are the two mega-gangs with 20,000 prisoners who are causing a bloodbath in the prisons of Ecuador]. Infobae (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  6. ^ a b González, Mario Alexis (2021-12-27). "Ecuador cerrará 2021 con la peor crisis de seguridad de la década". Primicias. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  7. ^ "Todos contra Los Choneros, las bandas quieren su espacio en cárceles". La Hora. 2021-10-03. Archived from the original on 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  8. ^ Medina, Fernando (2022-04-02). "503 personas perdieron la vida en las cárceles de Ecuador". El Comercio. Archived from the original on 2022-04-21. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  9. ^ "Homicidios, motines carcelarios y estado de excepción: ¿por qué hay una ola de violencia en Ecuador?". CNN. 2021-10-20. Archived from the original on 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  10. ^ "Tasa de homicidios de 2021 fue la más alta en ocho años". La Hora. 2022-01-26. Archived from the original on 2022-01-26. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  11. ^ González, Mario Alexis (2021-09-24). "Ecuador camina hacia la tasa de muertes violentas más alta desde 2012". Primicias. Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  12. ^ "Estas son las cinco provincias con más muertes violentas en lo que va del 2022". El Universo. 2022-02-17. Archived from the original on 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-04-23.