Prosecutor Investigating The Raid By Gang Members On A Live TV Channel Was Shot Dead in Ecuador

• State security forces and criminal gangs are currently engaged in fierce battles in Ecuador.
• The prosecutor César Suárez was killed.
• The country is in a state of emergency.

This crime will not go unpunished, said Attorney General Diana Salazar in a video. “The criminals and terrorists will not stop us,” said Salazar.

It’s about drug trafficking

Among other things, Suárez investigated the alleged gang members who stormed a state television studio last week and took numerous hostages. The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, then issued a decree declaring that Ecuador was in an internal armed conflict. He sent the armed forces to fight the gangs.

The security situation in Ecuador had recently deteriorated dramatically. The murder rate of 46.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year was the highest in Ecuador’s history and one of the highest in Latin America. Multiple gangs with ties to powerful Mexican cartels are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes. Ecuador is a major transit country for cocaine from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia that is smuggled to the United States and Europe.

About The Author

Stefan Soesanto

Mr. Soesanto is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. He leads the Cyberdefense Project and Head the Risk and Resilience Team.

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