At the national level there are 1,890 intentional homicides; 522 have occurred in zone 8 (Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón).
While in the Suburbio Battalion, in Cisne 2 and in Guasmo dozens of Marines carried out control operations after the declaration of the state of emergency, a group of armed criminals attacked a warehouse located at the intersection of the Ernesto Albán and 25 de Julio avenues, in the south of Guayaquil.
Four men entered the business, disarmed the security guards and beat the supervisor and other workers to get them to hand over the key to the safe.
“They hit the supervisor twice on the head, they already took him to the Teodoro Maldonado hospital to be treated,” said a close friend.
They took the money that would be from last Monday’s sales, about $ 80,000, reported Colonel Ricardo Manitio, chief of the Southern District of the Police.
After the robbery, the criminals fled on two motorcycles. Manitio organized an operation to find the thieves, whose actions were recorded on video surveillance cameras.
Hours later, in the southern Guasmo, another murder was reported. A man was shot four times while in a vehicle. In the same car, his relatives took him to the Guasmo hospital, where his death was confirmed.
At the same time, it was also known that the wife of a policeman who was assaulted Monday afternoon by pencil sharpener had died when she arrived with her husband to buy construction materials from a local, after withdrawing $ 6,000 from a nearby bank.
Men on motorcycles followed them from the bank and attacked them as they entered to do their shopping. The 33-year-old woman died when she was operated on at the Guayaquil hospital.
These events are in addition to the twelve murders registered this weekend in Guayaquil and which led to the declaration of the state of emergency by President Guillermo Lasso on Monday night. This decision, adopted before the “serious internal commotion”, allowed the military to go out to patrol the streets yesterday. In Guayaquil alone there are 1,500 soldiers who will guard the streets and control weapons and drugs.
The military stopped buses, private cars, motorcycles and even tricimotos. They asked the occupants for identification and checked criminal records.
Lieutenant Humberto Velásquez, from the Marine Infantry, arrived with at least 70 men from his unit and took their place on F Street, at the end of 38th Street. without novelty. Then they went to Trinitaria Island and Cisne 2 to carry out control operations.
For 60 days the military will be patrolling the streets of the country. Executive Decree number 224 indicates that “the mobilization of the Armed Forces is ordered in the provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Santa Elena, Manabí, Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Pichincha and Sucumbíos.”
According to Augusto Durán Ponce, a constitutional lawyer, the state of emergency is an extreme measure during periods of disturbance, anxiety, alteration of order, natural or man-made threats that affect the public security of the State.
He indicated that Ecuador is now used as a warehouse and for the transit of drugs. In addition, the country has been plagued by high rates of violence due to drug trafficking.
In the decree, the Government argued that in recent weeks there have been increases in criminal activity that affect citizen security throughout the national territory, producing an increase in the rate of intentional homicides of 10.62% per 100,000 inhabitants.
After an analysis of national figures for the last five years, it was found that intentional deaths have almost doubled since 2016. They went from 5.81 per 100,000 inhabitants to 10.62 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2016, at the national level, there were 969 crimes, while so far in 2021 there are already 1,890 cases.
The Government linked the increase in criminal activity and the intensity of these events to retaliation for actions that the State has undertaken to reestablish public order.
The executive decree alludes that 147 tons of drugs have been detected so far this year. Last year (from January to December) 128 tons were seized.
“When drug trafficking grows, hit men, murders, robberies of homes and vehicles also increase. More than 70% of violent deaths in Guayas are related to drug trafficking, ”Lasso insisted on Monday night, while making these figures public.
Other crimes on the rise
With regard to pencil sharpener-style robberies, there are 164 cases reported to the Guayas Prosecutor’s Office. Two women have died in recent days as a result of these assaults that have occurred even inside shopping centers.
And the number of murders (intentional homicides) is even more alarming. So far in 2021, only in Zone 8 (Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón), 522 violent deaths have been registered. Last year (from January to December) there were 290 cases. (I)
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