According to the commander of the Police of the so-called Zone 8, in Guayas province, Víctor Herrera, on Friday morning, the police raided Penitenciaría del Litoral, in the city of Guayaquil, the largest and most populated prison in the country.

In statements to the Ecuavisa channel, Herrera said that the operation will last several days until the prison is fully controlled.

On Thursday, the military also raided the regional prison of Guayas, where the leader of the Los Choneros gang, Adolfo Macias (Fito), escaped on January 7, and as a result of this event, a series of violent actions in prisons and on the streets began, such as the kidnappings and murders of police officers.

President Daniel Noboa declared the existence of an internal armed conflict that keeps Ecuador in a state of emergency, and labeled some twenty criminal gangs that are now military targets as terrorists.

Since 2020, Ecuadorian prisons have been the scene of riots, in which more than 450 prisoners have been killed.

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