Quito
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, source 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.
