The most recent balance of the operations against organized crime in the country indicates that over 57 thousand operations have been carried out since January 9th, and 237 persons have been arrested for alleged terrorism.

As the number of detainees grows, concerns are emerging about the capacity of the prison system, which was already facing overcrowding.

Although official information does not specify how many of the more than four thousand arrested this month were placed in preventive detention, nor how many were released, the volume of arrests means that the number of inmates is increasing.

Ecuador’s prison system has a capacity of 27,556 inmates, but last year the figure reached approximately to 31,000.

This Tuesday, President Daniel Noboa recognized the shortcomings of the prisons, administered by the Service for Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI).

The president hopes to alleviate the problem of overcrowding in penitentiaries with the repatriation of around 3,200 foreign prisoners and with the construction of two new maximum security confinement buildings.

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