Ecuador being overthrown by drug gangs

[Leftiris]

Sorry for the quick post, but wanted you all to see this.


A drug kingpin in Ecuador was broken out of prison recently, and now it appears Ecuador is going through a takeover by mafia drug traffickers.

From Reuters:
Ecuador President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday that his country was "at war" with drug gangs who are holding more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage and who briefly captured a TV station live on air and set off explosions in a surge of violence that has left city streets deserted.

Noboa on Tuesday named 22 gangs as terrorist organizations, making them official military targets. The president took power in November pledging to tackle a growing security problem caused by a rise in drug-trafficking gangs transporting cocaine through Ecuador.

"We are at war and we cannot cede in the face of these terrorist groups," Noboa told radio station Canela Radio on Wednesday.

The hostage-takings, which began in the early hours of Monday, and the apparent escape of Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias from prison over the weekend, spurred Noboa to declare a 60-day state of emergency.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/m...024-01-10/

[sailorsam]

interesting, and maybe inevitable, scenario

drug/crime lords control the government.  the Head of State, legislature, judicial system, all do what the gangs tell them.  maybe they just make a cartel head, prime minister or something.

open drug sales and smuggling.

ST:TOS hinted at this in the episode 'A Piece of the Action'.

[Ninurta]

It sounds like Ecuador is becoming Mexico South. Don't worry, the U.S. won't be left out. We've already got Mexican cartels infiltrated and spread all over the U.S. I'm at a nexus of them - three cells withing driving distance of where I sit. 3 different ones. What do you suppose will happen around here if they spark a turf war?

There is one to the east, around Roanoke and Southside VA, one a bit closer, to the west, in southeastern Kentucky, and one around 2 hours south, i8n upper east Tennessee.

One had set up an outpost on this very road about 6 or 8 months ago, but they, were, uh, made to feel unwelcome, and I reckon it must have hurt their feelings, because they've not been seen for around 6 months now. They did leave a car sitting there, though. I reckon it was some kind of donation to the community.

Here, they are hiring locals to do the running and dealing, and you seldom see a cartelista around. They're trying to keep a low profile to avoid attention. When they do draw attention, and the law shuts a shop down, a replacement shop opens up within about 48 hours, and they just keep on truckin'. With that M.O., the cops are just playing whack-a-mole, and not really getting anything lasting done. I suspect it's the same way in Mexico and Ecuador - when you can find a cop shop willing to do anything down there.

The difference is, down there they own large segments of government, so government is reluctant to act anyhow... but we're catching up. I've heard in the wind that Pelosi led a delegation of congress critters to Mexico a couple of years ago, and they came back somewhat richer. That's just in the wind, nothing I've been able to verify, but honestly it really wouldn't surprise me with the politicians we have running the show these days.

There IS a solution, but it's not one the U.S. is willing to take a run at just yet, and it doesn't involve getting any OK's from the politicians, who may be bought and paid for. It's more of a covert, small-scale, and locally based solution, and that's just where I'll leave that thought.

But, yeah, the same thing will be coming to a neighborhood near you, if it's not there already. It's just a matter of time, and all it takes is for folks to be distracted and complacent.

.

[sailorsam]

would hate to see turf wars start in the USA.

might be able to stop a lot of this if we could change the culture in the USA to the drugs becoming socially unacceptable.

in certain corners drug use has become all too accepted.