The pacification plans and more personnel have not yet been able to stop the entry of weapons into the Penitentiary

A policeman saw from one of the checkpoints how a backpack was thrown into pavilion 2 at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2, and he immediately alerted the other security members to assemble a team and enter to do a search.

Some 10 minutes later, when the police and prison guides entered, violence had already broken out in the Litoral Penitentiary.

It was 3:00 p.m. and between pavilions 2 and 3 there were shots. They were shots fired into the air by members of the Los Choneros and Chone Killer gangs, commented General Víctor Hugo Zárate, the new commander of Zone 8, who mentioned that thanks to the three security fences that now exist in that prison, it was possible to avoid a new massacre.

The National Service for Persons Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) assured that no deaths or injuries were recorded on Wednesday afternoon.

However, the backpack was never recovered and it is not known for sure what it contained. Zárate hopes that hours later in a requisition, the artifacts present in the backpack will be among what was seized.

Among the confiscated items were found two pistols, two explosive devices, 474 ammunition, a feeder, sharp objects and various tools (welders, drills and more) that allow inmates to build sentry boxes and even modify the interior of the pavilions to store weapons or drugs. .

This makes it clear that despite the pacification plans and the greater number of soldiers in the Penitentiary, the authorities are far from having total control of the most populous prison in the country.

The governor of Guayas, Pablo Arosemena, highlighted the presence of the three security fences, the first corresponds to the soldiers who guard the outer perimeter of the prison, however, someone reached the outside of pavilion 2 and threw a backpack that quickly it was taken by the leaders of that space that houses about 800 inmates.

In the Penitentiary there are currently 200 soldiers, at least 20 guard the river area. Another group guards the outer perimeter of the pavilions and others are in a camp at the entrance to the prison.

The governor explained that until the scanner that had been announced to be installed for weapons control and the implementation of the new signal inhibitors are in the hands of the SNAI, which is the entity that must give a date for this new technology to begin function.

In addition, he said that months ago new inhibitors were installed and that they were sabotaged by the inmates. They shot at them until they were destroyed.

The pacification plan is another pending in penitentiary matters. Six weeks ago the Government created the Commission for Dialogue and Pacification of the Prison System. Some international experts were even brought in to meet every 15 days and create a program for true rehabilitation.

This commission meets this Friday in Guayaquil and the Police explain that their members will be given the security to carry out their work inside the prisons, however, General Zárate clarifies that the police institution is not part of that work table.

The delegates of the Commission mentioned a month ago that a prison census was being carried out. This information gathering allows to know more details of the prison population and to classify the inmates by the type of crime, length of sentence, diseases and others.

After the disturbances in the Penitentiary, the SNAI dismissed the director of the Penitentiary, lawyer Wilfrido Resabala, from his position. For now, the director of the Regional Prison, Mario Mendieta, would also be provisional director of the Penitentiary until a new official is appointed in that position. (I)