48 prisoners escape from Ecuadorian jail amid wave of violence

Quito, Jan 16 (IANS) At least 48 inmates escaped from a prison in the northern city of Esmeraldas in Ecuador amid the "internal armed conflict" in the country declared on January 8.

The escape was "evidenced" on Sunday when the national police and the armed forces carried out a search operation in the prison, Xinhua news agency quoted the National Service of Integral Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) as saying on Monday.

The SNAI also noted that five prisoners were "recaptured".

The Sunday operation in the Esmeraldas prison was part of simultaneous interventions of the public forces in all the prisons of the country.

This was aimed at regaining control after riots broke out in several prisons last week.

Riots erupted on January 8 in several prisons after authorities confirmed the escape of a drug trafficking kingpin from a jail in the southwestern coastal city of Guayaquil.

The unrest spread to several cities in the country the followin day, when criminal gangs unleashed a series of violent moves including attacks, armed assaults, car bombings and police kidnappings.

As of Monday, security forces have arrested 1,534 people, with 158 of them on charges of "terrorism", according to the Presidency.

Of the total, 158 individuals are accused of "terrorism", said the Presidency in an updated report.

The arrests took place in 15,461 operations carried out by the police and the armed forces, from January 9 to 15.

The Presidency also reported 41 operations against "terrorist groups" and five "terrorists killed".

This last figure has remained unchanged since January 12.

In the update, the government highlighted an increase in seizures of firearms (575), bladed weapons (560), explosives (478), ammunition (13,043), and mobile phones (299).

Additionally, hundreds of vehicles and motorcycles have been recovered.

In response to the escalation of violence unleashed by criminal organisations, Ecuador has been under a state of emergency since January 8 for 60 days, and a nighttime curfew is in effect.

Under the declaration of "internal armed conflict", 22 criminal gangs were classified as "terrorist organizations," and the armed forces were granted broad powers to combat organised crime, especially in prisons.

Also on Monday, a judge ordered eight alleged members of the local criminal gang "R7" to be remanded in custody due to "terrorism and illicit trafficking of controlled substances".

The arrest of those members took place on January 13 in a police operation in the western province of Santa Elena in Ecuador, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement on Monday.

The operation was carried out by intelligence personnel after they had received reports and information from citizens about the gang's operations.

They identified locations where drugs, weapons and ammunition were stored.

The agency is handling this case based on the penal code, which punishes the crimes of terrorism and trafficking of controlled substances with sentences of 10 to 13 years respectively.

The "R7" gang, involved in crimes such as robbery, extortion and hired killings, is on the list of 22 organised crime groups.