RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out on Tuesday (19) control operations in a dozen provinces of the country on the first day of the state of emergency decreed by President Guillermo Lasso to try to curb the wave of crime and delinquency.
The aim of the controls is to seize weapons, ammunition, and explosives, as well as illicit substances, in the different provinces that are under a state of emergency following the decree signed on Monday by the president.
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In Quito, the country’s capital, the Armed Forces reported an exercise in the town of Conocoto, where soldiers have been inspecting vehicles since the morning “to ensure the safety of citizens and counteract criminal acts”.
They have also reported similar operations in El Recreo (south) and Sangolquí (southeast) area, both also in the metropolitan district of Quito.
In successive messages throughout the day via social networks, the Armed Forces have been notifying the implementation of control operations in Esmeraldas, Loja, Azuay, Imbabura, Orellana, Chimborazo, Guayas, El Oro, Sucumbíos, Santa Elena, Morona Santiago, Zamora Chinchipe, and Manabí.
Some of the cases involved roadblocks for the inspection of vehicles, others involved operations inside and outside prisons, and there were also cases of “hydrocarbon control”.
The military institution has not disclosed the number of troops involved in these operations or the results covered by the emergency decree. However, as an example, a high command of the Police revealed that an operation in Esmeraldas involved 1,600 agents plus a military contingent whose members were not quantified.
“At the moment, the different operations are already coordinated with the Armed Forces in compliance with the presidential decree. We are more than 1,600 police officers, plus the military contingent, stationed here in the province to provide effective security to citizens,” said Colonel Pablo Velasco, commander of the Esmeralda’s subzone, in a video communicated by networks.
He announced a series of operations “at fixed, mobile and on footpoints”, focused on “security” and “geo-referencing crime”.
In the case of Guayaquil, the epicenter of criminal activity and organized crime due to its port, this is a continuation of measures already adopted more than a month ago. In that city, the military presence today failed to prevent six armed individuals from entering a commercial establishment and stealing some US$80,000, according to the police.
Police officers cordoned off the property to gather evidence to find the thieves, said Colonel Ricardo Manitio, head of the Southern District of Guayaquil.
Hours earlier, in another event that highlights the seriousness of the situation in the Andean country, a woman was shot to death by assailants outside a bank. According to preliminary information from local media, the perpetrators robbed her of some US$ 6,000 that she had just withdrawn with her husband, a police officer.
The state of emergency decree will be in force for 60 days to curb the crime wave, which is encouraged by growing drug trafficking in the country.