Jacobo Bucaram arrested in Guayaquil and to be extradited to United States
The son of former president Abdalá Bucaram was arrested in Guayaquil with a red notice from Interpol along with two other people. He will be sent to the US, where he is wanted by the judiciary.
Son of former Ecuadorian president arrested with Interpol red notice
Jacobo Bucaram, son of former Ecuadorian president Abdalá Bucaram (1996–1997), was arrested on Wednesday in Guayaquil and will be extradited to the United States, where he faces judicial requirements, according to Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg. Diariolasamericas.com reported that the arrest took place during a police operation in which two other people were also captured.
Reimberg confirmed the arrest through social network X, noting that Bucaram had an active Interpol red notice. "They will be sent to that country in accordance with the corresponding process. The message is clear: there are no privileges, there are no untouchables and there is no room for impunity," the minister said. He did not specify the specific crimes with which Bucaram is charged in United States territory.
The official also highlighted the role of the executive in the operation: "Under the leadership of president Daniel Noboa, the National Police and the entire Security Block continue to act with firmness. Anyone with pending accounts with the judiciary will have to answer for them."
Prior conviction for irregular sale of COVID-19 tests
The arrest took place approximately two months after an Ecuadorian court sentenced Jacobo Bucaram and his father to nine years and four months in prison for organised crime. The case is related to the irregular marketing of diagnostic tests for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
The Public Prosecutor's office accused both of having collaborated, between March and August 2020, with a criminal structure that obtained economic benefits through the irregular distribution of approximately 21,000 diagnostic tests and other medical supplies. The trial lasted six years before concluding with a conviction sentence.
Reaction from former president Bucaram
Former president Abdalá Bucaram reacted to his son's arrest with a message published on X, in which he blamed María Paula Romo, former Interior Minister, for having driven the arrest. "Again it's Romo. She has my son arrested with an Interpol red notice without my son even knowing what it is about," he wrote.
Local media outlets, including the newspaper Primicias, recalled that in May 2024 Jacobo Bucaram was arrested at what was called a "narco-party" recorded on the road to the coast, on the outskirts of Guayaquil. According to the same sources, former president Abdalá Bucaram presented himself at the Cuartel Modelo, the facility where his son remains detained following the police operation.
With information from EFE and Primicias.
Source: Google News EC — Crime