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🇪🇨 Ecuador /Elections & Politics

Ecuador President: Criminal groups have 80,000 armed members

From El Comercio · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa estimates that criminal groups in the country have approximately 80,000 armed members.
  • This figure is comparable to the combined strength of Ecuador's national police and armed forces, totaling around 93,000 personnel.
  • Noboa emphasized the need for unified efforts to combat these organizations, which are linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining.

President Daniel Noboa estimates that criminal groups operating in Ecuador collectively possess around 80,000 armed individuals. This figure closely rivals the total number of personnel in Ecuador's National Police and Armed Forces, which the president stated amounts to approximately 93,000.

Noboa shared this assessment during a radio interview, detailing that Ecuador has between 56,000 and 57,000 police officers and roughly 36,000 military personnel. He identified prominent criminal organizations such as Los Choneros, Los Lobos, Chone Killers, and Tiguerones, alongside other groups, as contributing to the estimated 80,000 armed members.

If you add up the membership of Choneros, Lobos, Chone Killers, Tiguerones, and all the other groups, we are talking about 80,000 armed people

— Daniel NoboaEstimating the number of armed members within Ecuador's criminal organizations.

"If you add up the membership of Choneros, Lobos, Chone Killers, Tiguerones, and all the other groups, we are talking about 80,000 armed people," Noboa commented. He warned that the nation must consolidate its forces to confront these organizations, otherwise, combating them would be "very complex." The president also asserted that his administration inherited years of neglect in the security sector.

Otherwise, considered that combating them would be “very complex”

— Daniel NoboaDescribing the challenge of fighting criminal groups without sufficient unified forces.

Noboa highlighted international support for Ecuador's fight against criminality. Since January 2024, Ecuador has been under an "internal armed conflict" declaration, a measure enacted to intensify the crackdown on criminal gangs. The government primarily links these organizations to activities like drug trafficking and illegal mining, labeling them as "terrorists."

He also acknowledged security assistance from the countries participating in the Alliance for Security in the Americas and from the current government of Colombia. Noboa contrasted this with previous administrations, stating, "Before, we had against," referring to the government of Gustavo Petro. The border with Colombia is a focal point of the strategy, with Noboa discussing border issues with Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella. Noboa noted that the area of coca cultivation along the Colombian border had more than tripled in the past.

Before, we had against

— Daniel NoboaReferring to past relations with the Colombian government regarding security cooperation.
About this summary

Originally published by El Comercio in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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