TV studio stormed by masked gunmen live on air after gang leader escapes jail
The president of Ecuador has declared a state of ‘internal armed conflict’ after the escape of a powerful gang leader from prison saw armed criminals hijack a television station.
Adolfo ‘Fito’ Macías, leader of the Los Choneros gang, was discovered to be missing from his cell on Sunday – the same day he was supposed to be transferred from a low to maximum security prison.
An armed gang stormed a live television news broadcast yesterday evening, claiming they had bombs as they forced the presenters and crew to the ground.
A university was also attacked, and it’s been reported that prison guards have been executed by prisoners.
The Ecuadorian government declared a state of emergency following Macías’s escape on Sunday, and the escape of another gang leader, Los Lobos’s Fabricio Colon Pico, who managed to escape prison on Tuesday.
Shortly after the gunmen stormed the TV station, President Daniel Noboa declared 20 drug trafficking gangs operating in the country as terrorist groups and authorised Ecuador’s military to ‘neutralise’ the groups – within the bounds of international humanitarian law.
The British Foreign Office warned against all but essential travel to parts of the country.
Peru has also declared a state of emergency along its northern border with Ecuador due to the ongoing violence.
Macías, who was convicted of drug trafficking, murder and organized crime, was serving a 34-year sentence in La Regional prison in the port of Guayaquil.
Pico had been arrested last Friday for alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Ecuador’s attorney general.
But it’s thought that gang leaders are still able to rule from inside prison.
Gunshots rang out on live television as men armed with bombs and grenades burst into the set of the TC Television network, shortly after gangsters vowed a ‘war’ against the president’s plans to reclaim control from ‘narcoterrorists.’
Police stormed the set after the horrific situation was broadcast live for around half and hour, and they say all gunmen who broke into the studio have been arrested.
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