A state of emergency has been triggered in Ecuador: the president, Daniel Noboa, declared the country to be at war against narco-terrorism and gave the army a free hand to use lethal force, even warning those judges and investigators who help terrorists, "if you help them, you will be considered terrorists too."
Violence erupted following the escape from Guayaquil Regional Prison of Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias "Fito," leader of one of the country's most dangerous pandillas, Los Choneros. In 2011, "Fito" had been sentenced to 34 years in prison for criminal conspiracy, drug trafficking and murder and was about to be transferred to the maximum-security prison in La Roca, from where he had, among other things, already escaped in February 2013. His cell, however, was found empty.
Ecuadorean President Noboa immediately ordered exceptional measures, launching a manhunt and deploying the army, but the various drug trafficking gangs responded with impressive violence against institutional and civilian targets such as police stations, patrol cars, hospitals, universities, television stations, and gas stations. While the attacks initially occurred in Guayaquil, within a short time the wave of violence spread throughout the country.
As explained by expert and former contractor Gianpiero Spinelli: "These armed groups are known as trasportistas, dealing with transferring, escorting drugs on behalf of other Colombian and Mexican criminal organizations. In Latin America it is unfortunately common for criminal organizations to militarily challenge governments."
If previously the Choneros and the like were referred to as pandillas, now their rank is elevated to full-fledged terrorist groups, as already publicized by the authorities in Quito. After all, their modus operandi is now aimed at destabilizing and paralyzing the country, sowing terror among the population and forcing the government to deal. All this is more characteristic of terrorist organizations than of simple criminal groups in that they are moving for political as well as economic ends, among other things. However, it is equally true that in Latin America the boundaries between the two phenomena are often very thin.
President Noboa made it clear that this is an armed conflict (not a security-crisis), gave the army a free hand, and the head of the armed forces let it be known that these terrorist groups (as many as 22) are now military targets. Noboa then challenged the terrorists, "if you have guts, clash with the army" and leave the civilians alone.
It is worth recalling that in April 2023 a State Police operation, coordinated by the Milan Prosecutor's Office, had led to the arrest of nine members of the "Latin Kings" pandilla, "Chicago" faction (among the 22 catalogued by the Ecuadorean government as "terrorist"). In a May 2022 wiretap between Milan-based Latin Kings "Chicago" leader Kleber Miguel Cortez Cortez, aka "Cao" (among those arrested) and another Ecuadorean national, connections had emerged with a prominent Latin Kings exponent in Guayaquil, known as "El Diablo," who was himself involved in the feud that led to the murder of "Majestic," a Latin Kings leader in Ecuador. In addition, in 2013, Operation "Amor del Rey" had led to the arrest of 75 people, almost all members of the Latin Kings Chicago, active in various Lombard provinces and Rome. The pandilla was in contact with narcos from the Mexican "Los Zetas" cartel thanks to an Italian intermediary known in drug trafficking circles in both Italy and Mexico. To transfer drugs to Italy, the narcos used large dogs that were stuffed with eggs and then killed. The problem of pandillas active in Italy that maintain relations with the "parent company" overseas is an aspect that should not be underestimated and has already been dealt with at the time in a dossier by the Centro Studi Machiavelli.
Foto: L’esercito ecuadoregno. Immagine di repertorio. Elab. IA
Researcher of Centro Studi Politici e Strategici Machiavelli. Graduated in Sociology (University of Bologna), Master in "Islamic Studies" (Trinity Saint David University of Wales), specialization in "Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism" (International Counter-Terrorism Institute of Herzliya, Israel). He is senior analyst for the British Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism-ITCT, theItalian Team for Security, Terroristic Issues and Managing Emergencies (Catholic University of Milan) and the Kedisa-Center for International Strategic Analysis. Lecturer for security managerlaw enforcement and post-degree courses, he has been coordinator for Italy of the European project Globsec. “From criminals to terrorists and back” and is co-founder of Sec-Ter- Security and Terrorism Observation and Analysis Group.
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