Some 4,000 soldiers and police took part on Saturday in the transfer to a new high security prison of the leader of the most powerful gang in Ecuador accused of threatening death Fernando Villavicencio, the presidential candidate assassinated three days earlier, according to the authorities. .
The soldiers and agents, heavily armed, entered at dawn in armored vehicles in the Center of deprivation of liberty number eight of Guayaquil (south-west) where was detained since 2011 Adolfo “Fito” Macias, leader of the formidable criminal gang “Los Choneros”.
Footage released by security forces on social media shows a portly, bearded man being apprehended by officers with his hands on his head, then on the ground with his hands tied and in his underwear among dozens of other prisoners.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso then announced on X (formerly Twitter) that “Fito” had been transferred to La Roca, a 150-bed maximum security prison located in the same prison complex in Guayaquil.
According to the authorities, “Fito” and his men controlled at least one building of the prison where he was previously detained.
The name “Fito” has been in the headlines in Ecuador since the shooting Wednesday of Fernando Villavicencio, 59, a centrist candidate who was in second place in the polls for the presidential elections scheduled for August 20.
He claimed last week that the leader of the gang, sentenced to 34 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking, had threatened to kill him.
A former journalist and member of Congress, Mr. Villavicencio had investigated drug trafficking in his country.
Six Colombian nationals were arrested in this case, and a seventh was killed in a shootout with the candidate’s bodyguards.
Drug gangs are powerful in prisons across the country. More than 430 inmates have died in clashes between rival gangs inside facilities since 2021, with dozens dismembered and their bodies burned.
The centrist Construye party announced on Saturday that Mr. Villavicencio’s running mate, Andra Gonzalez, will be its presidential candidate.
Ms. Gonzalez, a 36-year-old environmentalist, was a longtime ally of Mr. Villavicencio. She has devoted herself in particular to the defense of the oceans and the mangroves, to the fight against deforestation and the trafficking of wild animals.
The running mate of Mrs. Gonzalez, candidate for the vice-presidency, will be announced later and “he will be chosen among the most loyal of those who shared the fights of comrade Fernando Villavicencio,” the party said.
13/08/2023 00:58:40 – Guayaquil (Ecuador) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
