The national secretary of Public Security and the State of Ecuador, Diego Ordóñez, presented his resignation after the massacre perpetrated by an armed group in a fishing port in Esmeraldas, where nine people were shot to death, including a Colombian, and four others were injured .
In a letter addressed to the president, Guillermo Lasso, Ordóñez announced his resignation from the position he had held since August 2022. In his letter, which he shared on social networks, the outgoing Secretary of the Presidency indicated that “the country is experiencing an unprecedented phenomenon of criminal violence and organized crime”, as well as “a resurgence of common crime, similar to what other Latin American nations are experiencing”.
“In Ecuador it is exacerbated because to the violent expressions of organized crime, and particularly on these dates, events clearly aimed at creating anxiety and fear among citizens are added,” he added.
Ordóñez highlighted that organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal mining have been declared threats against State security in recent months, which has allowed a change in the strategic approach, with greater participation of the Armed Forces.
He did not mention in his letter the massacre that occurred in the fishing port of Esmeraldas, when on Tuesday a group of about thirty armed men broke into the place to shoot indiscriminately against the people who were there.
At least three people have been detained by the police for allegedly being involved in the massacre where nine people were shot to death and four others were injured. One of the detainees, known as ‘Coco’, is a member of the criminal gang Los Tiguerones, according to the president of Ecuador.
The Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, explained that the hypothesis is maintained that the massacre occurred due to a dispute between two organized crime gangs over the control of territories in the Esmeraldas area. Zapata also attributed this action to the fight against drugs that is being carried out in this area and specified that more than 4 tons of drugs have been seized in Esmeraldas since the beginning of 2023.
The massacre occurred around 9:00 a.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday, when around 30 heavily armed people stormed the fishing port in both vehicles and boats and began shooting indiscriminately. At the time of the attack there were between 1,500 and 2,000 people in the place and some jumped into the water to flee the scene, but were still hit by bullets. In total, more than 200 cartridges of 9 and 223 mm bullets were found.
The shooting occurred at a time when cases of murder, assaults and extortion resound daily in various cities of the country, overwhelmed for a couple of years with a wave of insecurity and the appearance of criminal gangs, which have even exceeded control of law enforcement
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