Operation Shadow in Ecuador: 14 Los Lobos Box members detained in El Oro
Ecuadorian police detained 14 alleged members of Los Lobos Box in Machala and Pasaje during a night-time curfew.
Fourteen detained in El Oro following anti-crime operation in Ecuador
Ecuadorian police arrested 14 alleged members of a criminal gang active in the El Oro province, according to ntn24.com reporting based on statements from Interior Minister John Reimberg.
The operation, named "Shadow", took place during the third night-time curfew of the year declared by the government in the country's most conflict-affected zones. The measure is part of President Daniel Noboa's offensive against criminal organisations.
Reimberg announced on X that the operation dismantled a "network of extortion, murders, robberies and drug trafficking" that operated in the towns of Machala and Pasaje. The 14 detainees belong to the Los Lobos Box gang and have links to "drug trafficking and the use of minors for illicit activities", according to the minister.
El Oro is a province coveted by criminal groups because of its port and mining activity in the area, which make it a strategic corridor for organised crime.
Despite successive curfews and states of emergency, violence has not subsided in Ecuador. Noboa travelled to El Oro—a province bordering Peru—to receive a report on the results from the first day of the operation.
The new offensive comes following a visit by United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Quito, who praised Ecuador as a "faithful" ally in the anti-drugs fight and announced 45 million dollars in security funds.
In a radio interview, Noboa stated that "this war costs the country more than 1,500 million dollars per year" and asserted that "these criminal groups have infiltrated, have sought to establish themselves and fight against the State and fight against the citizens themselves".
In addition to the curfew, the leader declared a state of emergency in eight provinces and suspended the rights to the inviolability of home and to correspondence in the affected areas.
Source: Google News EC — Crime