Criminal gangs retake control of Socio Vivienda 2 less than 12 hours after Guayaquil operation
Criminal organisations regained control of a pedestrian thoroughfare in Socio Vivienda 2 hours after a police-military operation. Two men threatened journalists whilst they were in the area.
Criminal organisations regain control in Socio Vivienda 2 following police incursion
Less than 12 hours elapsed before criminal organisations regained control of a pedestrian thoroughfare in Socio Vivienda 2, a residential development located in the northwest of Guayaquil, according to reports from extra.ec.
During the early morning of 27 September, the National Police and the Armed Forces raided several homes in the sector. The officers detained two people—one of them a minor—and seized weapons, ammunition and uniforms similar to those used by the police and military investigative unit.
Just eight hours after the operation, two men posted at the entrance to the pedestrian pathway threatened a journalism team from the newspaper whilst they were surveying the area. The site was neither cordoned off nor protected by police officers at that time.
Among the evidence collected were between six and eight metal barriers with which criminal groups had kept the sector barricaded, in addition to a large quantity of drugs hidden in new packaged toys, tools and items of uniforms. The barriers appeared to have been used to control access to the area.
Residents chose to remain silent. "No, nobody heard anything here during the night," declared a resident just metres away from where the raid took place, according to extra.ec. Fear of retaliation would explain the widespread reluctance of residents to speak about the detentions.
General Walter Villarroel, commander of Zone 8, stated that the operation was in response to an armed attack that occurred on Saturday 26 September in that sector. Socio Vivienda 2 is considered one of the most violent areas in Guayaquil since the massacre of 22 people recorded in March 2025.
Villarroel announced that operations would continue. "We already have information gathered in other sectors here in zone 8 where we will continue to conduct raids," the police commander stated.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil