A prosecutor investigating a dramatic attack on the set of a public television channel last week was shot to death Wednesday in Guayaquil.
Prosecutor César Suárez, who had carried out other high-profile investigations in the past, was shot while driving a vehicle, Attorney General Diana Salazar said.
“Organized crime groups, criminals, terrorists will not stop our commitment to society,” she said in a video broadcast on X, formerly Twitter.
Thirteen alleged perpetrators have been arrested in the assault at TC Television, which was broadcast live and led President Daniel Noboa to declare that Ecuador is in an “internal armed conflict” amid a surge of killings and other crimes tied to drug trafficking.
Noboa also declared a 60-day state of emergency, including a nighttime curfew, and designated 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations.
Front Burner22:37Chaos, gang war erupts in Ecuador
Suárez was also in charge of the Metastasis case involving an Ecuadorian drug lord who allegedly received favourable treatment from judges, prosecutors, police officers and high officials.
Ecuadorian police said they were working to find those responsible Suárez’s murder.
The country has been rocked by a series of attacks, including the abductions of several police officers, in the wake of a notorious gang leader’s apparent weekend escape from prison.
José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of Los Choneros, one of the Ecuadorian gangs considered responsible for a spike in car bombings, kidnappings and slayings, was discovered missing from his prison cell where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking.
His disappearance earlier this month led the government to declare a state of emergency that involved sending the military into prisons, which sparked a wave of at least 30 attacks around the South American country, including the assault at the television station in Guayaquil.
Violence erupted in Ecuador this past weekend when notorious drug lord Adolfo (Fito) Macías escaped from prison. Andrew Chang breaks down the chaos and why authorities have struggled to restore peace in this small coastal nation.