An Ecuadorian prosecutor who was leading the investigation into the TV station attack of armed men last week has been assassinated in the northern part of the region.
The victim, identified as Cesar Suarez, was fatally shot on Wednesday while he was in Guayaquil, which is considered to be the most dangerous city in the country. He previously carried out other high-profile investigations. The latest incident occurred while he was driving a vehicle.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Attorney General Diana Salazar said that organized crime groups, criminals, and terrorists will not stop their commitment to society. There were 13 alleged perpetrators who have been taken into custody following the assault on TC Television.
The horrific attack was broadcast live and prompted Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa to declare that the nation is in an "internal armed conflict." This comes after a surge of killings and other crimes tied to drug trafficking within the nation, as per ABC News.
The prosecutor who was killed was also in charge of the Metastasis case that involved an Ecuadorian drug lord who allegedly received favorable treatment from judges, prosecutors, police officers, and high officials.
Law enforcement officials said that they are now working to find the people responsible for the assassination of Suarez. The murder comes as Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks, including the abductions of several police officers following the apparent prison escape of a notorious gang leader.
The suspect, identified as Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, also known as Fito, is the leader of Los Choneros. The gang is one of the groups in Ecuador that is considered to be responsible for a spike in car bombings, kidnappings, and slayings.
Last Monday, Noboa declared a state of emergency in order to address the current crisis, which includes prison disturbances in several regions. Fito's gang is linked to maritime drug trafficking to Mexico and the United States, according to CNN.
Rising Gang Violence
Since the attack on the TV station, the country's military and police have been deployed throughout the city of Guayaquil. On Wednesday, the president's office said that the country's national police and armed forces carried out a total of 20,849 operations against organized criminal groups, resulting in the arrest of 1,975 people since Jan. 9.
Furthermore, Ecuador's Armed Forces were able to arrest six members of a terrorist organization in the city as well as seven members of the terrorist organization in Los Tiguerones. These include "Leo," the alleged leader of a network of hitmen, in Victoria del Portete.
Carolina Valencia, who was visiting family in Guayaquil from New York, said that the situation in Ecuador is "chaotic." She noted that there was traffic everywhere because people were trying to get home. The buses were not operational, which caused people to jump on the back of pickup trucks.
Prior to the gang leader's disappearance, the Ecuadorian government ordered the transfer of high-profile convicts, including Macias, from the cells where they were running their criminal rings. Prison experts argued that this may have led to the individual's escape and the subsequent uprisings, said the New York Times.
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