Armed group sows terror “by land and sea” in a fishing port in Ecuador

Nine people lost their lives this Tuesday in the town of Esmeraldas, in northern Ecuador, when some thirty alleged members of “organized crime” sowed terror “by land and sea” by opening fire on the fishing port, according to official sources.

“Today, around 09:00 am, 30 heavily armed people, both by sea and land, criminally and delinquently attacked fishermen,” the Ministry of the Interior reported in a statement, in which it also detailed: that Minister Juan Zapata went to the place of the events, “after 9 violent deaths and 4 injuries recorded so far.”

Zapata himself, quoted in the statement, explained that the National Police and the Armed Forces are working on the case “in a coordinated manner.” “We are confronting organized crime with force,” he concluded.

President Guillermo Lasso affirmed, on his Twitter account, that those responsible will be captured and confirmed that the police and military forces are “looking for those responsible for this crime.”

According to the Ministry, the sector police arrived to repel the attack, taking into account that there were between 1,500 and 2,000 people in the port. At least two victims were rescued from the sea because they jumped into the water to avoid the attack, according to a report PA citing police sources.

So far, details the Interior portfolio, 60 raids have been carried out in sectors where, “according to police intelligence, the Organized Crime Group (GDO) would be responsible for this act.” more than 200 ballistic evidence, both 9 mm and 223.

The Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office reported that it carried out the removal of seven corpses, in the Artisanal Fishing Port of the canton, and two more, in a nearby health center, which were transferred to the Forensic Center.

Earlier, Minister Zapata also announced, through a tweet, that they were coordinating with the police “to capture those responsible for the violent deaths registered in the Fishing Port.” For their part, the country’s military forces announced a security deployment in the area.

Esmeraldas is one of the most violent cities in Ecuador, frequented by criminal gangs related to crimes such as drug trafficking and extortion.

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