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Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, in office since November, announced a 60-day mobilization of soldiers, sending them into the city’s streets and prisons to search for fugitive gangster Jose Adolfo Macias, nicknamed “Fito.”
The President also announced that a curfew would be implemented from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The state of emergency will give members of the armed forces “all political and legal support” so that they can carry out their duties in the fight against “drug terrorists,” the president said in an Instagram video.
“We will not negotiate with terrorists and we will not rest until we give peace to all Ecuadorians,” Noboa said.
Police found Los Choneros gang leader Fito, 44, missing on Sunday during a check of a prison in the port city of Guayaquil. It is believed he had fled a few hours before police arrived.
Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation and charged two prison officers who were involved in Fito’s escape.
Since 2011, Fito has been serving a 34-year prison sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder. This is his second escape from prison. He managed to escape for the first time in 2013, but was caught three months later.
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