Fernando Quishpe was surprised to see a private security guard in a pharmacy near his home, in the eastern sector of Mapasingua, in the north of Guayaquil. “The pharmacy has been working here for more than three years and has never had a security guard, but since last week they already have one at the entrance,” said the surprised customer, although he admitted that he feels safer with the guard.

This is because the sector has become conflicted and insecure following robberies of passers-by and attacks on business premises, including a supermarket on the same street, in December last year, prompting the chain to beef up its security with more private guards and police custody. during the busiest hours.

The situation is repeated in several sectors, places that normally did not have private security have decided to hire services in the last months or weeks due to the increase in the crime wave. The owner of a service located in the south of the city, who preferred a reservation, indicated that he had re-hired security guards after fifteen years of no service.

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“I haven’t had guards since 2009, I decided not to hire them anymore because thieves came to steal weapons and we had more attacks than when there were no guards, but now I see that they should be there to give peace. to our clients,” the entrepreneur explained. He found his new security cost to be about $3,000 a month for two shifts a day.

In 2022, the Ministry of Interior issued work permits (for the first time) to 83 private security companies and renewed approval for another 458, i.e. a total of 54. However, the Tax Administration (PRI) that year registered 2,984 companies whose activities are reported to the RUC securities transportation service by means of armored vehicles, escorts (bodyguards), security guards, and surveillance and protection through street patrols.

Rodrigo Peralta, president of the National Association of Companies for Comprehensive Security and Research (Anesi), confirmed a new jump in demand for security services, which already had its first increase since 2023.

“The criminal situation in the country caused an increase in the demand for private insurance, in fact private companies hired security guards for different production sectors: shrimp farming, supply of basic products, gas stations where their activities were threatened, commercial. Security has also been beefed up in malls due to multiple crime-generated events,” Peralta said.

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Attack on TC television warned urbanization

Citadels have also beefed up their security, not only with more guards at entry checkpoints, but also with vehicles operating within the urbanisations. “I’ve been living here for a few weeks (urbanization in Daule), I was scared by some noises I heard next to my house, in a plot where they haven’t built yet, and when I looked outside there was a patrol guard talking on the radio with other guards who were also patrolling other streets in the neighborhood,” said a resident who bought a house a few weeks ago.

Peralta assured that the armed takeover of TC television by criminals, on January 9, created a peak in the demand for private insurance in urbanisations. “This action created chaos at the residential level, where everyone thought that the next to be attacked were the types of events where they could easily subdue the four or three guards they have in their main guardhouses. This has led to various administrations requesting the support and backing of private security so that vans with reinforced guards can be deployed at their main guard stations,” Chief Anesi indicated.

The banana sector, for example, has increased the employment of private security guards in 2023 compared to 2022, acknowledged Richard Salazar, executive director of the Ecuador Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec).

More security has been hired on the farms as well, for the access of our employees, more security has been hired, it is important to highlight the increase, it is complicated to quantify, said the leader. This year, however, he noted that security was no longer deployed as police and military presence in productive areas had improved. “We didn’t increase it, but we noticed more police and military control, it should also be noted, it helped us to be a bit safer than we were before,” Salazar pointed out.

Lack of liquidity affects the private security sector

Meanwhile, without disclosing figures, Peralta assured that the private security sector closed in 2023 with excellent figures due to the increase in demand for its services, although he regretted that this good moment is not reflected in the liquidity that they would like, as he admitted that companies whose clients did not have the income they had planned for December last year, resulting in delayed payments even by the Government, which also seeks their services.

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“In terms of numbers, we record favorable balance sheets, but in terms of cash flow, we are quite tight,” admitted Peralta. Meanwhile, another sector that ended up growing in 2023 is the armored vehicle business. “There was no increase in 2024, but the growth that occurred in 2023 was maintained compared to 2022,” said the spokesperson of a company in Guayaquil dedicated to this activity, which preferred to reserve due to the situation.uncertainty.

This sector has seen demand growth from 2022 of around 50%, which was highlighted last year with an increase of up to 70%. The process of armoring a vehicle can take up to four months, and the only prerequisite for a vehicle to be suitable for armor is that it has at least a 2,000 cubic centimeter cylinder. The price of the service can reach up to 37,000 dollars, and it depends on the level of protection that the client contracts.