Ecuador: Drugs and Handmade Weapons Found in Prison

On Thursday, Ecuadorian military officers raided the women's prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil where they seized 900 doses of illicit substances, multiple handmade bladed weapons and several electronic devices.

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The military authorities of the Andean country detailed through their social network X, that the inmates also had in their possession scissors, tools, syringes, while the drugs were wrapped in packages and in small doses ready for distribution.

The Guayaquil women's prison is located in the prison complex, which also includes the Penitenciaría del Litoral, the maximum-security prison La Roca and the Regional prison.

The Armed Forces have been intervening in the country's penitentiaries for the past four months and uniformed officers continue to find prohibited objects in these detention centers.

��#ATENCION
Una requisa fue realizada en la cárcel de mujeres de Guayaquil en la que se hallaron objetos prohibidos, entre ellos: celulares, armas blancas y drogas.#Ecuador #cárcel #seguridad pic.twitter.com/iD2pR77kze

— RADIO ELITE 99.7 FM (@RadioElite997) May 16, 2024

 The text reads,

 

A search was carried out at the Guayaquil women's prison in which prohibited objects were found, including: cell phones, knives and drugs.

Although there is criticism of militarization in this South American nation, the majority of citizens voted in favor of the questions related to the security issue in the referendum proposed by President Daniel Noboa on 21 April.

In this way, the executive has more legal tools for the military to act in the fight against criminal gangs throughout the country, including in prisons.

On 8 April, Noboa issued a decree recognizing the persistence of an internal armed conflict in the country and ordered measures to maintain operations against insecurity after the end of the state of emergency.

The existence of an internal armed conflict here has been recognized since 9 January, when the president classified 22 organized crime gangs as terrorists following the armed attack on the TC Televisión channel.

On several occasions, security experts have warned that states of emergency are not the solution to violence, but that other measures are needed to solve the root of the problem: inequality, poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities.