Criminal practices related to drug trafficking cause concern in Machala, where permanent patrol is requested

Criminal practices related to drug trafficking cause concern in Machala, where permanent patrol is requested

Machala

The city of Machala, capital of the province of El Oro, is experiencing an escalation of violence. After the decapitation of a man, his head and his hands were abandoned Tuesday night inside a backpack outside Yilport in Puerto Bolívar, a fact that caused concern in this town.

Analysts and experts on security issues maintain that this reflects a struggle for control of territory carried out by criminal groups linked to drug trafficking.

In El Oro the thesis is being considered that drug traffickers are sending ‘signals’, after finding a head near the port

In Durán, a town near Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas, on Monday of this week two men appeared hanging from an elevated pedestrian crossing, in an unprecedented event in the country. This scene is similar to the one caused by drug cartels in Mexico.

“We are experiencing a level of insecurity, which is not so distant from other cities. This is a product of the growth of international crime. Machala is a port city and is a preferred place to move drugs. What happened is an attempt to demoralize citizens and the Police, the idea of ​​organized crime is to scare citizens,” said Jhon Campuzano, research professor at the Technical University of Machala.

In his opinion, the immediate solutions would be the permanent patrolling of the public force in sectors considered critical, but also a comprehensive reform of the judicial system that involves even the Constitution to harshly punish criminals. “It is about recovering the security of the State and peace for the citizens,” added the academic.

Until February 16, in El Oro there have been 25 violent deaths. In the same period of the previous year there were 16.

“Citizens have a perception of insecurity, now many families are afraid to go out to public places and that affects the economy, the fear is because criminal groups face each other anywhere. In order to fight crime, joint work between local and national authorities is necessary,” said Félix Romero, former police chief of El Oro.

For his part, Darío Macas, mayor of Machala, said that with Tuesday’s event the citizens are scared and a commotion is created.

“It is not just anything, we are talking about organized crime, people related to drug trafficking, crime rates have increased, but work has been done jointly with the national government authorities,” said the official.

The mayor of the capital of Ourense led the meeting of the Security Council that took place at noon this Wednesday. And among the resolutions is the enabling of video surveillance systems linked to the ECU911 Machala system.

“We have a security plan that consists of a video surveillance room that will allow us to work on security,” said the representative.

They identify the man who was beheaded

After reviewing the contents of the backpack that was abandoned by a subject aboard a motorcycle on the night of Tuesday, February 15, outside Yilport in Puerto Bolívar, the Police reported that the head and hands were found inside. , and that the latter allowed the identification of the victim, Manuel Sarmiento Sánchez.

It was revealed that the man registers three criminal proceedings against him, one in 2009 for investigation and discovery of infractions, the second in 2017 for possession of unauthorized weapons and the last in 2019 for organized crime.

The police units continue with the investigations to locate the rest of the body and determine the possible causes of the murder.

A video from the Yilport Puerto Bolívar security system is being exploited to identify the person who abandoned the backpack on a motorcycle. The guards reported this fact and imagined that it was an explosive device, it was reported.

Before bodies hanging in Durán, President Guillermo Lasso says: We cannot be intimidated

Major Cristian Espinoza, head of the Directorate of Violent Deaths and Disappearances of El Oro, said that he handles a hypothesis of the case with international drug trafficking crime.

On the morning of February 15, two police operations were carried out in which 92 block-type packages of cocaine were seized, which were hidden in the refrigeration panels of two containers. (I)

Source: Eluniverso

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