Son of former president Bucaram arrested in Guayaquil; US seeks his extradition
Interior Minister John Reimberg announced the detention of Jacobo Bucaram Pulley in Guayaquil, along with two other persons. He is subject to an Interpol red notice and is wanted by US justice authorities.
Son of former president Bucaram arrested in Guayaquil; US seeks his extradition
Interior Minister John Reimberg announced this afternoon the detention of Jacobo Bucaram Pulley, son of former president Abdalá Bucaram, along with two other persons in Guayaquil, according to a report from eluniverso.com.
In a post on social media platform X, Reimberg confirmed that Bucaram Pulley is subject to an Interpol red notice and that US justice authorities are seeking him. "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," wrote the minister, suggesting a possible extradition to the United States.
Reimberg also circulated a photograph of Bucaram Pulley in handcuffs, guarded by two agents of the National Police's Special Mobile Anti-narcotics Group (GEMA). He also published the detained man's identity card, obscuring the identification number and signature.
The Interior Ministry identified the other two detained persons as William José Briones López and Geovanny Fernández Menéndez.
Referring to the operation, Reimberg stated that the National Police and the Security Bloc, under the command of President Daniel Noboa, are acting with firmness. "Whoever has pending accounts with justice will have to answer for them. We continue working," he asserted.
In Ecuador, Bucaram Pulley faces a first-instance sentence of nine years and four months in prison for organised crime. The case linked him to an alleged structure dedicated to irregularly commercialising rapid COVID-19 tests during the pandemic in 2020. Additionally, he received a dismissal in December of that same year for alleged trafficking in cultural patrimony goods, a case stemming from a search warrant related to the first investigative process.
Former president Abdalá Bucaram confirmed to eluniverso.com that the detained person is his son, though he claimed to be unaware of the reasons for the measure. Through his account on X, he questioned the procedure and stated that his son was not informed of the reasons for the detention either. "Again the Romo situation. They have my son arrested on an Interpol red notice without my son even knowing what it is about," he wrote, in reference to former minister María Paula Romo.
In May 2024, Bucaram Pulley had been arrested during a party at a property located on the road to the coast. Around thirty persons were detained on that occasion, among them several individuals identified as leaders of Los Águilas and Los Choneros, including those with the aliases Fede and Patucho Celso.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil