Colombian Armed Forces commander Helder Giraldo believes that Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, the escaped capo from a prison in Guayaquil who is at the center of a wave of violence that has left at least 16 dead in five days, has entered his territory.

“It is possible” that Fito entered Colombia, Commander Giraldo told W Radio on Friday. Other media have also reported information about the leader of Los Choneros, such as the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, which claims that its investigations reveal that alias Fito has ties to the FARC.

There are 20 fugitives (from Ecuadorian prisons) that we are on high alert,” Fito added, including Fito.

The Colombian military is also monitoring Fabricio Colón Pico, leader of the Los Lobos gang, who escaped from prison after Attorney General Diana Salazar accused him of planning an attack on him.

According to General Giraldo, Los Choneros, led by Fito, and other criminal gangs such as Los Tiguerones, which operate in the northern province of Esmeraldas, have “a close relationship” with Colombian armed groups such as the Oliver Sinisterra Front, a dissident of the extinct FARC who operates on the Colombian side.

Disappeared on January 7

The crisis of violence began on Sunday, January 7, when police entered the Guayaquil regional prison and found Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, head of the country’s main criminal gang, Los Choneros, not in his cell.

The government deployed troops and launched a crackdown on drug trafficking, which was met with a bloody response: prison riots, 175 prison officials held hostage in prisons and on the streets, explosions, burning vehicles and gunfire.

On Monday, January 8, the government of President Daniel Noboa Azín declared a state of emergency, including a six-hour curfew in the early morning hours.

Following the violent events, between the large-scale killings on the streets of Guayaquil and the short-lived takeover of the TC television set, the President announced that Ecuador is experiencing an internal armed conflict and revealed the names of 22 narco-criminal groups, including some According to the government of Ecuador, 20,000 members operate in the country in alliance with Mexican and Colombian cartels.

Colombia, Ecuador’s neighbor and the world’s largest cocaine producer, is closely following the declared Ecuadorian “internal conflict” that has begun to permeate its border.

According to Giraldo, “there is a good chance” that the crisis in Ecuador “will worsen security conditions at the border with Colombia,” due to the warlike status accorded to the gangs by new Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.

Prisons without control

Ecuador was for years a country safe from drug trafficking, but it has transformed into a new stronghold of drug trafficking to the United States and Europe, where gangs struggle for control of the area and are united in their war against the state.

In the past five years, the number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants has risen from 6 to 46 in 2023 and the internal war is reaching a low point, just like in Colombia in the last century, with an additional ingredient: the burning of prisons.

Drug traffickers use prisons as criminal agencies from which they manage the drug trade, order killings, manage the proceeds of crime and fight to the death with rivals for power.

Sending 1,500 prisoners

In the midst of the current crisis, Noboa announced the “repatriation” of 1,500 imprisoned Colombians to reduce overcrowding in prisons, which house around 3,000 additional people.

But the average fell badly in the left-wing government Gustavo Petro considers it a “mass expulsion” and problematic because the prisoners would be released on the other side of the border. The border area was militarized on Wednesday to prevent the passage of criminals.

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The wave of internal violence provoked solidarity within the international community.

The United States will send the head of the Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, and senior anti-narcotics and diplomatic officials to Ecuador to advise President Noboa, in power since November.

“We have accepted the support of Argentina, we have accepted the support of the United States (…) this is not the time to say no out of ego or vanity,” he said.

“We need military support, from people, from soldiers. As well as assistance with intelligence, artillery and equipment,” he added.

Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Spain, the European Union and the UN, among others, have rejected the drug attack. France and Russia warned their citizens not to travel to Ecuador.

After several days of confinement out of fear, activity has resumed in the main cities. Most businesses opened, public transportation began to circulate again, and only a few continued to telework.

On Tuesday, the drug offensive showed its worst face with a live-recorded armed attack on the press that went around the world. (JO)