The attack on UPC de Esmeraldas would have occurred after uniformed officers erased graffiti that made reference to Los Tiguerones

This morning it was learned that before the attack with firearms on the UPC in a neighborhood of Esmeraldas, where a policeman died and another was injured, uniformed men were photographed while erasing, on the afternoon of Saturday the 11th, graffiti or messages that made reference to the Los Tiguerones criminal gang.

In a preliminary report from the Police, it is indicated that the personnel on duty who were on the afternoon of Saturday the 11th at the UPC Guacharaca went to different areas of the November 20 and Guacharaca sectors to erase messages painted on the walls.

There, a subject on a burgundy motorcycle began taking photos of several of them. The report indicates that when they realized this, the police tried to catch up with him, but could not because the man fled.

And already, at dawn, the attack was registered. It was after 00:30 when several subjects started shooting at the UPC. The shots killed one uniformed man and wounded another.

Duesis Valencia Caicedo was the policeman who died in this event classified as an attack with firearms against the Community Police Unit (UPC) of the La Guacharaca neighborhood, west of the city of Esmeraldas, early this Sunday the 12th.

The gendarme Neri Mina Castro, who was treated in a medical home, was also injured, the National Police said in a statement.

The two uniformed men were on duty when they were attacked by unknown persons with long weapons that destroyed doors, glass windows and furniture, it was detailed.

For that reason, the operational, investigation and intelligence units of the Police were activated to locate the perpetrators.

The National Police indicated that nine people were apprehended, that a submachine gun, a revolver and more evidence were seized, in six raids carried out until the early hours of this Sunday 12.

General Commander Tanya Varela expressed, on behalf of the 53,000 police officers, the feeling of regret at the death of Duesis Valencia Caicedo, a police officer in the rank of sergeant, who, she said, lost his life in a criminal attack.

This police unit is located a few blocks from where the wake of the sprinter Álex Quiñonez was held, who was murdered on October 22 in Guayaquil along with the urban music singer Christopher Arcalla. The latter made reference to the criminal gang Los Tiguerones in his videos and songs.

Los Tiguerones is one of the criminal gangs that is fighting for control in the country’s prisons such as the Litoral Penitentiary. It is said that it originated in Esmeraldas and that it is the ally of Los Choneros.

Since last year, in the neighborhood of 20 de Noviembre or La Guacharaca, other selective violent deaths have also been registered, and there was a threat with an explosive. (I)