Organized crime supplies itself with rifles to protect drug trafficking operations; the use of these weapons was more noticeable in 2021

“They fired at least 100 shots, they are firing with rifles here in Durán, at the height of the Virgen pass,” a resident of the Las Cabras hill sector warned an ECU911 operator on January 13.

16-year-old Jorge, who belongs to one of the most active drug gangs in Durán, according to the Police, would have fired an N85 rifle that agents found on one of the slopes of that populated elevation.

In that city, the Police have seized three rifles so far this year and dozens of ammunition, according to Jorge Hadathy, commander of that police district.

“Two of those rifles were found in pursuit. We carry out operations with the police of the preventive axis”, indicates the officer, who comments that with the progressive use of force they try to combat the advance of criminal groups that operate with this type of weaponry in that canton.

In Guayaquil, the use of long weapons has also been evidenced, even in selective killings. On December 29, a hitman took the life of a man who was leaving a shopping center located on the Juan Tanca Marengo road. In a security video, the criminal is seen swinging the weapon to widen the area of ​​damage to the victim.

The use of this and other types of weapons has been notorious in the escalation of violence and citizen insecurity in the country in the last three years, especially in the Metropolitan District of Guayaquil, also known as Zone 8, which includes Duran and Samborondon.

With this increase in crimes and offenses coincides the increase in weapons that would be manufactured or entering the country through the northern and southern borders, according to the seizures reported by the Ministry of Government. In 2019, police and military agents took 5,512 weapons off the streets, including 5,442 firearms and 70 blank weapons (replicas, which do not fire a projectile). In 2020, the figure increased to 6,132: 6,002 firearms and 130 blank weapons. In 2021, 7,786 illicit weapons were seized: 7,526 firearms and 260 blank weapons. From 2019 to 2021, the number of weapons seized increased by 29%.

Among the main types of most seized weapons are revolvers, pistols, cartridge belts, rifled shotguns, other long weapons and other short weapons.

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General Franklin Pico Medina, commander of the Operational Command 1 North and of the Fourth Division of the National Army, explains that the organizations dedicated to the illegal trafficking of arms enter them in separate and hidden pieces in apparently legal transport or merchandise.

“The work is quite arduous to try to identify a weapon, a pistol, a rifle. They have their techniques, in vehicles with false bottoms, in gasoline tanks, emergency tires, in many places that one least thinks about. And how they go through pieces there it is difficult. Without a doubt, we would lack the technology to detectr,” says Pico.

On a daily basis, he assures, controls are carried out on highways in the border area and patrols are carried out in areas of forest, jungle and river routes. One of the most important findings so far this year occurred on January 20, when soldiers found a rest camp for an armed cell in Mataje, Esmeraldas. Among the supplies were a machine gun, ammunition, grenades, bulletproof vests and other survival gear.

That same day, in Santa Rosa, El Oro, military intelligence identified a cache in which three rifles with telescopic sights, four shotguns and ammunition were hidden.

Although part of the illegal weapons are in the hands of irregular groups that operate in the northern border area, hundreds of weapons are distributed to cities in the interior of the country. “They have their contacts inside the country. look how Inside the prisons they try to bring a pistol, at retail, and they concentrate (the weapons) for their illicit acts”, adds General Franklin Pico.

Guns and organized crime

In 2021, there was evidence of a greater use of rifles by organized crime. Videos from security cameras captured crimes and shootings, such as the clashes and massacres in the Guayaquil prison. This pattern is also evident in the seizure figures.

Until 2020, seizures of rifles were not so common, since only the category Other long weapons was recorded; in 2019, only the Rifles and Others names appeared. However, in the seizure report for 2021, the category Rifles appears, with the detail of 51 seizures.

An agent from the Criminalistics Department (National Police), who requested the confidentiality of his identity, also confirms an increase in the use of rifles and fears that many of these weapons are still in the hands of criminals because they have only found shell casings of that caliber.

“The weapons are still in use. However, weapons have been seen here that are easily marketed in the United States, specifically, in some procedures where rifles have been seized, which are related to drug trafficking, ”says the uniformed officer. This high-caliber weaponry, adds the agent, would be delivered by foreign cartels that negotiate with the criminal structures that operate in the country, to protect the operations.

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Intimidation and damage power

“They use these weapons as a deterrent against rivals who only have pistols or revolvers. So seeing that the weapon is larger, of greater caliber, that generates a greater psychological impact. These weapons have a greater range and their ammunition is more effective and lethal”, details the uniformed Criminalistics officer consulted by EL UNIVERSO.

Its ability to fire dozens of projectiles in a burst increases the chances of effectiveness, adds the agent.

“The shape of the warhead of that caliber, that is, of the bullet, tends to be more effective, it also has greater force in the propellant charge. While a 9-millimeter pistol will not pass a bulletproof vest with a third degree certification, a rifle bullet passes through it normally. If a 9-millimeter bullet goes through one person and maybe a second person, the rifles go through several people lined up,” warns the police officer.

The weapons to which organized crime currently has access are of concern to citizens and members of security institutions, who believe that the capacity for armed response and the strategies to hit all levels of cells, gangs and criminal structures must be improved, especially , their economic arm with which they finance this war. (I)