A bomb threat caused alarm in Quito on Thursday, prompting an anti-explosives unit to evacuate the surrounding area of the Playón de la MarÃn bus station. In a series of incidents in the capital, fake explosives in a backpack and five bombs caused minor damage but no injuries. In Coca, an Amazon city, a nightclub arson killed two people and injured nine others. The country is currently experiencing an increase in violence attributed to drug trafficking gangs.
To address the escalation in violence, President Daniel Noboa declared an emergency earlier in the week and authorized the military to combat drug gangs. He emphasized the need for tougher laws, honest judges, and the possibility of extraditing dangerous criminals. To back this up, he presented plans for the construction of two new prisons in the country. The existing corrections system has been “controlled by mafias” for decades, according to him.
Ecuadorians are staying indoors as soldiers patrol the streets of major cities. Tensions rose when a group of men armed with explosives and guns invaded a TV station’s live broadcast in Guayaquil, shocking much of the region. The high levels of violence are linked to a power vacuum left by the death of the then-leader of the local Los Choneros gang in 2020. Drug-trafficking routes and territory control are being contested by violent gangs with links to Mexican and Colombian cartels, leading to a surge in violence.
Last year, Ecuador recorded its highest number of homicides, and gang members in prisons are currently holding a significant number of corrections personnel hostage. Since his election in November, President Noboa has vowed to tackle the country’s drug-driven crime wave and implement anti-crime proposals such as turning ships into floating jails and providing the police with more equipment.