Ecuador arrests hundreds in bid to halt eruption of gang-based violence

At least 859 people have been arrested in Ecuador since Tuesday in a national security operation to stop an outburst of gang violence, according to data published by Ecuador’s presidency on Friday.

Nearly 900 people have been arrested in Ecuador since Tuesday in a national security operation to stop an outburst of gang violence, Ecuador’s presidency said. The presidency says 94 of the 859 people detained are members of what they call “terrorist” groups. Ecuador has been rocked by blasts, police kidnappings and prison disturbances in a wave of violence beginning with the prison escape of one of Ecuador’s most powerful drug lords last weekend. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday declared the country to be in a state of “internal armed conflict,” ordering security forces to “neutralize” several criminal gangs accused of spreading extreme violence. Noboa also designated 22 criminal gangs to be “terrorist” organizations in the presidential decree. In a further measure, the Ecuadorian government announced on Thursday that foreigners who want to enter the country from Colombia or Peru will have to provide a criminal record certificate in a measure designed to “prevent and control the entry of individuals who constitute a threat or risk to public safety.”