Ecuador’s most wanted criminal, Adolfo Macias, escaped from prison on Sunday, sparking a state of emergency in the country and more than 3,000 people deployed so far in a search operation.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday issued an order to “neutralize” criminal gangs after the gangsters declared war on the country.
Gangs retaliated by taking police officers hostage, with the National Prison Agency (SNAI) saying 125 wardens and 14 officers were captured in five different cities.
At least 10 people were killed and several injured in explosions around the city in different parts of the country, Daily Sun reported.
On Tuesday, gangs attacked the TC TV building in Guayaquil with weapons and explosives.
In addition, another Los Lobos gang leader and drug lord Fabricio Colon Pico has also escaped since his arrest last Friday for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Ecuador’s attorney general.
Unverified videos circulating on social media show the kidnappers holding blindfolded hostages with guns to their heads as they read a statement to President Nobo “You have declared war, you will get war, you have declared a state of emergency. We declare the police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war”.
In response, Noboa vowed that “he will not negotiate with the terrorists or rest until we restore peace to all Ecuadorians”.
