At the start of the year masked gunman burst into a television studio in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The cameras were live and the entire event was broadcast. The video shows gang members shouting at staff, pushing them to the ground, threatening them with guns and explosives. These pictures subsequently travelled around the world.But this event was just one in a series to hit Ecuador in a short space of time. Car bombs, kidnappings, murder, prison riots, prominent prisoner escapes, and another national state of emergency. Criminal violence has washed over the country as competing gangs like Los Choneros and Los Lobos battle in prisons and on the streets over control of the lucrative cocaine trafficking business. Foreign organized criminal actors like the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartels, the Albanian Mafia, FARC dissident groups from Colombia, and others, are all active in Ecuador, a country described as a "cocaine superhighway".In the space of just five or so years, Ecuador has gone from one of the safest countries in Latin America to a country with one of the highest murder rates. In this episode we are going to talk about how this happened.Speaker(s):Felipe Botero Escobar, the Head of Andean Programmes at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized CrimeGI-TOC:(Paper) <a href="https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/the-road-to-chaos-ecuador/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Organized crime declares war: The road to chaos in Ecuador</a>(Blog) <a href="https://assassination.globalinitiative.net/face/fernando-villavicencio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fernando Villavicencio</a> - Assassination Witness Project The Global Organized Crime Index - <a href="https://ocindex.net/country/ecuador" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ecuador Country Profile</a> (Paper) <a href="https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/transnational-tentacles-wb6/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Transnational Tentacles: Global Hotspots of Balkan Organized Crime</a>(<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TheIndex" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Podcast episode</a>) The Index - Ecuador(Paper) <a href="https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/cocaine-to-europe/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The cocaine pipeline to Europe</a>Additional Reading:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-12/gang-violence-ecuador-cocaine-banana-exports-los-choneros/103311442https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/el-fiscal-cesar-suarez-asesinado-en-los-ceibos-investigaba-el-ataque-armado-en-tc-television-nota/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68014040https://news.sky.com/story/prosecutor-investigating-ecuador-tv-station-attack-shot-dead-13050642https://ecuador221.com.ec/ofrecen-recompensa-por-informacion-de-cinco-cabecillas-de-bandas-criminales/https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/colon-pico-captura-riobamba-enero-2024-nota/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67912235https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-09/daniel-noboa-declares-an-internal-armed-conflict-in-ecuador-after-an-armed-commando-breaks-into-a-television-station-live-on-air.htmlhttps://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2024/01/ecuador-criminal-groups-launch-attacks-jan-9-following-declaration-of-state-of-emergency-and-curfew-update-3https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/09/world/americas/ecuador-gang-prison-emergency.htmlhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12943831/Chaos-Ecuador-cops-abducted-prison-riots-cities-rocked-explosions-feared-Los-Choneros-gang-boss-Fito-escaped-jail-sparking-state-emergency.htmlhttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67921986https://time.com/6552988/ecuador-most-wanted-criminal-fito-escape-guayaquil-prison/https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-09/state-of-emergency-declared-in-ecuador-as-security-crisis-worsens.htmlhttps://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/quien-es-alias-fito-el-cabecilla-que-el-gobierno-no-hallo-en-la-carcel-regional-durante-operativo-nota/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/09/ecuadoran-president-declares-armed-conflict-gunmen-storm-tv-studio/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/2/ecuadors-embattled-president-lasso-will-not-seek-re-electionhttps://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/03/31/ecuador-asesinaron-a-ruben-cherrez-amigo-del-cunado-de-guillermo-lasso-y-vinculado-a-la-mafia-albanesa/https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuadors-President-Calls-for-Investigation-of-Brother-in-law-20230314-0021.htmlhttps://usacrime.com/leandro-el-patron-norero-beheaded-ecuador-prison/https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20221005-new-clashes-break-out-in-ecuador-prison-after-deadly-riothttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63126159https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2024/01/25/can-ecuador-free-itself-from-the-grasp-of-the-drug-lordshttps://insightcrime.org/news/gang-boss-money-launderer-murdered-ecuadorian-pison-riots/https://insightcrime.org/news/judges-officials-fall-ecuador-cleans-house/https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240121-diana-salazar-the-prosecutor-spearheading-ecuador-s-fight-against-narcopoliticshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/ecuador-violence-bloody-drug-warhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2023-08-13/once-ecuador-was-a-peaceful-country-now-it-is-one-of-the-regions-most-violent.htmlhttps://www.ft.com/content/579d9423-e10d-4f2e-8fe8-33e12b80f25ehttps://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/asesinan-julio-cesar-farachio-candidato-a-la-alcaldia-de-salinas-nota/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64553935https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-66289355https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-10-07/colombian-hitmen-who-killed-presidential-candidate-fernando-villavicencio-murdered-in-an-ecuadorian-prison.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2023-08-13/fito-the-gang-leader-who-threatened-to-kill-candidate-fernando-villavicencio-moved-to-maximum-security-prison.htmlhttps://www.ecuavisa.com/noticias/seguridad/orden-muerte-fernando-villavicencio-salio-desde-la-carcel-LD5948827https://veja.abril.com.br/mundo/a-relacao-entre-membros-do-pcc-e-a-crise-de-violencia-no-equadorhttps://www.metropoles.com/mundo/faccoes-em-guerra-com-o-estado-no-equador-tem-vinculos-com-pcc-e-cvhttps://eu.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2024/01/26/mexican-cartels-play-role-in-ecuador-violence-tv-station-storming/72255406007/https://apnews.com/article/ecuador-crisis-killings-mexican-cartels-2b82e62999b2696e70bd0f6ce933026fhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/30/ecuador-prison-riot-cartels/https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/justicia/2021/8/31/detienen-en-colombia-presunto-operador-del-cjng-270991.htmlhttps://insightcrime.org/news/arrest-mexico-sinaloa-cartel-presence-colombia/https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/mexican-cartels-bolster-foothold-and-alliances-in-colombia/https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/latin-america/ecuador-nabs-wanted-narco-president-says-crackdown-bearing-fruit.phtmlhttps://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/senior-farc-commander-pleads-guilty-brooklyn-federal-court-conspiring-distributehttps://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/22-00767-INCSR-2022-Vol-1.pdfhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-64785502https://www.unodc.org/unodc/frontpage/2022/December/record-amounts-of-cocaine-seized-bring-the-builders-32-tons-of-cocaine-disposed-through-encapsulation-method-in-ecuador.htmlhttps://insightcrime.org/news/record-cocaine-seizure-blow-to-ecuadors-gangs/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2016/vol1/253260.htmhttps://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ecuador-presidential-hopefuls-pledge-action-ports-where-bananas-hide-cocaine-2023-10-11/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-10/dutch-seize-record-660-million-cocaine-hidden-in-banana-cargohttps://www.intellinews.com/banana-crates-from-ecuador-now-usual-suspect-for-turkey-s-cocaine-police-286135/?source=latin-americahttps://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italian-police-find-880-million-cocaine-stashed-banana-crates-2023-05-16/https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/prison-for-drugs-gang-who-attempted-to-smuggle-cocaine-worth-11-million-in-bananashttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12451487/Spain-cocaine-Ecuador-banana.htmlhttp://www.fsb.ru/fsb/press/message/single.htm%21id%3D10439686%40fsbMessage.htmlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-67964229https://www.ft.com/content/0bcff64a-4a16-49e4-87dc-03295e40b63dhttps://apnews.com/article/ecuador-kidnapping-british-businessman-former-consul-ba9c148f10b39071375250119b6c1710https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/02/ecuador-violence-deadly-attacks-gangs-cartelshttps://www.batimes.com.ar/news/latin-america/mutilated-bodies-gang-wars-shock-once-peaceful-ecuador.phtmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/13/ecuador-violence-galapagos-cocaine/https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/seguridad/gobierno-declaracion-excepcion-carceles-ecuador.htmlhttps://elpais.com/internacional/2023-03-01/419-muertos-y-cero-responsables-dos-anos-de-la-oleada-de-masacres-carcelarias-en-ecuador.htmlhttps://insightcrime.org/ecuador-organized-crime-news/lobos-ecuador/https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2020/12/07/nota/8075287/dos-bandas-relacionadas-choneros-lagartos-pelea-carcel-esmeraldas/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fito-cartel-leader-ecuador-violence-b2476638.htmlhttps://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240111-what-we-know-about-fito-ecuador-s-notorious-gang-leader-who-escaped-jailhttps://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2020/07/04/nota/7894974/guerra-bandas-guayaquil-pierde-protagonistas-hasta-covid-19/https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2019/06/12/nota/7374450/quien-era-alias-cubano/https://insightcrime.org/es/noticias-crimen-organizado-ecuador/los-lagartos/https://insightcrime.org/news/brief/homicides-ecuador-prisons/https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7m8a8/gang-war-causes-brutal-prison-riots-across-ecuador-leaving-79-deadhttps://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2020/12/28/nota/9045034/persona-herida-bala-interior-centro-comercial-manta/https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/sociedad/macabro-mensaje-muerte-rasquina/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-67930452https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-11/tv-studio-hostages-recall-terror-of-on-air-attack-it-is-very-easy-to-kill-journalists-in-ecuador-too-easy.htmlhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12948857/Gangsters-stormed-Ecuadorian-TV-station-guns-grenades-taking-journalists-hostage-humbled-detained-police.html

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