What role did the CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel play in the most violent prison riot in Ecuador’s history

Last Tuesday, Ecuador experienced probably the bloodiest prison riot in its history. An intimidating scenario, typical of a battlefield, was seen in footage circulated on social media that reportedly reflected the bloodthirsty clash between rival gang members at the Center for Deprivation of Liberty No. 1, located in the coastal town of Guayaquil. , in the southwest of the country. The death toll rises to at least 116.

The Ecuadorian press attributed the violent riot to an argument between two local gangs, identified as “the choneros” and “Wolves”, Which would be affiliated with two Mexican cartels with transnational capacity: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Next Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Mario Pazmiño, former director of military intelligence in Ecuador, said these events showed that “transnational organized crime has penetrated the structure of the state“, whose governance has been”disturbed by the interference of international cartels such as Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación”.

“They want to spread fear“, He assured the agency AP, and added that “the more radical and violent the way of killingThe more they achieve their goal of inter-gang control.

According to Pazmiño, the events in Ecuador are due to the struggle for “territorial control“Inside and outside prisons and to dominate drug trafficking and micro-trafficking activities.

According to security officials, the Sinaloans have been in the South American country for more than a decade, but in recent years another organization with the same power has entered: those led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the Mencho, founder of CJNG.

“We have proof that the Sinaloa Cartel has carried out operations duly neutralized by the police since the 2009 until the year 2020, [también] we have a record of the actions of the Jalisco new generation cartel», He assured Geovanni pumice, police general, in an interview with Teleamazonas.

In Ecuador, the group of Ismaël Zambada García, the Mayo, as the only operator who can guarantee tons of shipments to United States, the country with the world’s largest drug user.

This was evident last February, when several leaves were found in the canal parking lots. TC TV, in the city of Guayaquil, where concrete demands have been made to the authorities and threats they anticipated “massacres” if your demands have not been met. The sheets were signed by the organization Oseguera Cervantes.

“If the relevant authorities ignore the declaration, deaths will be seen on the streets of Guayaquil and throughout Ecuador. We don’t want this to be a massacre, but if they don’t do anything, the Next Generation Cartel will.Reads the press release.

However, a day later came the response from the Sinaloa Cartel through a statement widely disseminated on social media. The message of the Sinaloan organization, allied to the “Choneros”, warned the Ecuadorian population that the “terror“Had started in the country.

“The Sinaloa Cartel and the Chonero Cartel are informing the Ecuadorian population of the events that have taken place in the republic during the past 48 hours. All of these actions have been perpetuated by the New Generation Cartel, which is made up of former guides, with the help of current state officials and is sponsored by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as El Mencho .… “

“We stayed calm and out of trouble“They warned in part of the statement.”But now we are going to take radical action against the Strawmen, friends, family or those who have interests with said cartel. […] They will appear hanged, beheaded, dismembered at the top of the country’s public bridges, at the gates of shopping centers or busy places, corpses will begin to be exhibited so that they recognize the true power of our organization.”.

“These organizations They have economic power that we don’t have in the state, which facilitates their use and diversifies the means of entering drugs through our border provinces ”, warned General Ponce.

Geovanny espinel, commander of the Ecuadorian Air Force, reported that it is only in the the first three months of 2020 in Ecuador, they were seized 45 thousand kilograms of drugs and, in relation to same period of 2021, this figure doubled, until 93 tons.

The numbers look alarming. But only in the provinces of Nariño and Putumayo, belonging to the border with Colombia, occur around 400 tonnes of narcotics per year of which 40 to 50% enter Ecuador.

Thus, the CJNG would fight for a market of 200 thousand kilograms to export them to the United States, but also to Europe. Although other trafficking routes can also be found in Chile.

Mexican and Colombian authorities have detected at least seven routes for drug trafficking Come in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Central America, Mexico and the United States.

Two of them start from Buenaventura and Tumaco, Colombia, toward Costa Rica and Salvador; while the second route starts from Tumaco and up to The Savior and Guatemala. The third path taken by organized crime is Esmeraldas, Ecuador, with arrival at the coast of Guatemala and Chiapas; while the fourth leg of San Lorenzo, Ecuador, to the detriment of Oaxaca and Guerrero.

The fifth route is part of the department of Puerto Rico, Ecuador, to the detriment of Michoacán and Guerrero. The sixth route has the same starting point, Porto Rico, with arrival at Jalisco and Sinaloa. The last way connects to Ayampe, Ecuador, with the beaches of Sinaloa.

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