{"id":18601,"date":"2025-04-10T17:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T17:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-mafias-like-freddy-kruegers-and-peaky-blinders-terrorize-ecuador-through-extortion-and-murder\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T17:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T17:47:18","slug":"how-mafias-like-freddy-kruegers-and-peaky-blinders-terrorize-ecuador-through-extortion-and-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-mafias-like-freddy-kruegers-and-peaky-blinders-terrorize-ecuador-through-extortion-and-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"How mafias like &#8220;Freddy Kruegers&#8221; and &#8220;Peaky Blinders&#8221; terrorize Ecuador through extortion and murder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Ecuadorans go to the polls on Sunday under the shadow of <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ecuador-narco-gang-clashes-kill-22-guayaquil\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">surging drug violence<\/a><\/span> and a troubling explosion in the number of local gangs and mafias.<\/p>\n<p>A flood of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/tag\/cocaine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">cocaine<\/a>\u00a0from Colombia and Peru through <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/spidermen-narcos-ecuador-drugs-ships-bound-for-us-europe\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Ecuadoran ports<\/a><\/span> has drawn a who&#8217;s who of mafias from Albania to Italy to Mexico to this once-safe Andean nation.<\/p>\n<p>But it has also created a plethora of homegrown groups with striking names and ferocious reputations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Los Freddy Kruegers&#8221; cause nightmares in the streets, &#8220;The Ugly Women&#8217;s Headquarters&#8221; run jails and &#8220;The Peaky Blinders&#8221; try to rule the waves of a key coastal zone. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Together they and numerous other groups terrorize citizens through campaigns of extortion, kidnap and murder.<\/p>\n<p>In January and February, Ecuador recorded more than one death every hour, according to figures from the Interior Ministry. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The mafias &#8220;have been gaining space; it is complex to combat them,&#8221; admits Guayaquil&#8217;s police commander, Pablo Davila.<\/p>\n<p>The situation has put security at the center of Sunday&#8217;s presidential runoff between incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/04\/10\/eef1e6fe-d574-45c9-b73c-375cdb60b2b7\/thumbnail\/1240x827\/05ea9c13c2c33a779f5fb34306bcb49d\/gettyimages-2205324725.jpg?v=653dd6912cdd8596c9bfea812c355f95#\" alt=\"ECUADOR-POLITICS-SECURITY \" height=\"827\" width=\"1240\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">An Army soldier stands guard on a street during a joint security operation between National Army soldiers and national police officers in the Martha Bucaram neighborhood in southern Quito on March 19, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                RODRIGO BUENDIA\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Noboa declared a\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ecuador-government-cartels-declare-war-daniel-noboa\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">state of emergency and deployed troops<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the streets and violence-riddled prisons, resulting in a slight dip in homicide rates in 2024 from the previous year. The president took action last year after\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ecuador-gunmen-fire-shots-live-tv-country-violent-attacks-daniel-noboa\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">gunmen stormed and opened fire<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions of civilians and security forces. A prosecutor investigating the assault was later\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/cesar-suarez-ecuador-prosecutor-investigating-tv-studio-attack-shot-dead\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">shot dead<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8220;They demanded $15,000 not to kill us&#8221; \u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>One merchant remembers the day a bomb exploded in her restaurant in Guayaquil, the economic and crime capital of the country.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They said they were from the mafia. They demanded $15,000 not to kill us,&#8221; the woman, who asked not to be named for her safety, told AFP. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Many local gangs have teamed up with much larger cartels from Mexico and Colombia, as well as Albanian and Italian mafias. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the local gangs have also fractured and proliferated as they look for their own ever-bigger piece of the pie.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The war is over territory. There aren&#8217;t known leaders like before. Everyone wants their independence,&#8221; said the head of one gang on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n<p>The situation is causing serious headaches for Ecuadoran security services, who must now gather intelligence and act against an ever-changing panoply of actors.<\/p>\n<p>Security expert Carla Alvarez compares the situation to the chaos of 1990s Colombia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We see an association of small, less rigid groups. This already happened in Colombia in the 1990s after the death of Pablo Escobar,&#8221; she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In Ecuador, hierarchies began to break in 2018 when one of the largest organizations split. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The death of &#8220;Choneros&#8221; leader Jorge Luis Zambrano in 2020 left a power vacuum. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The impact is now felt even in relatively safe Quito, once a haven from drug violence, but increasingly on the front lines.<\/p>\n<p>There, restaurant employee Marianela receives threats and extortion via WhatsApp. &#8220;I block them,&#8221; she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But there is no ignoring the violence on the streets of her Martha Bucaram neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>Police and military regularly appear, hunting for weapons and drugs. &#8220;There were about two dead here on the corner,&#8221; she said, recalling a recent shootout.<\/p>\n<p>Carolina Andrade, a municipal security secretary, admits that without the security presence of hard-hit Guayaquil, the capital is seen as &#8220;a safe space to come and hide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As new alliances and actors emerge, there may be worse to come.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple smaller gangs are now trying to join &#8220;larger organizations to have greater presence, legitimacy, and territorial control,&#8221; Andrade said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At least two high-profile Ecuadorian gang leaders targeted by the U.S. have made headlines this year. Earlier this month, the fugitive leader of &#8220;Los Cheronos&#8221; that relied on hitmen, bribes and military weapons to do business was <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ecuador-los-choneros-gang-leader-fito-indicted-us-vanished-prison-cell\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">indicted in New York City<\/a><\/span> on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States. Jos\u00e9 Adolfo Mac\u00edas Villamar \u2014 whose nickname is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs42.com\/news\/international\/ap-what-we-know-about-fito-ecuadors-notorious-gang-leader-who-went-missing-from-prison\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#8220;Fito&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and is not in U.S. custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/04\/02\/0da8541c-a375-4135-9cc2-352f7243d0cc\/thumbnail\/1240x934\/51fc16df94c8522ef2675037e2e1a32f\/ap25092532346396.jpg?v=653dd6912cdd8596c9bfea812c355f95#\" alt=\"ap25092532346396.jpg \" height=\"934\" width=\"1240\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">This wanted poster posted on X by Ecuador&#8217;s Ministry of Interior on Jan. 9, 2024, shows Jos\u00e9 Adolfo Mac\u00edas Villamar, alias Fito, the leader of Los Choneros gang.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                AP<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2024, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy2082\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions<\/a>\u00a0on &#8220;Los Choneros.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, a leader of one of Ecuador&#8217;s biggest crime syndicates, &#8220;Los Lobos,&#8221; was\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ecuador-arrests-los-lobos-leader-targeted-by-us\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">arrested at his home<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the coastal city of Portoviejo. \u00a0Carlos D, widely known by his alias &#8220;El Chino,&#8221; was the second-in-command of &#8220;Los Lobos&#8221; and &#8220;considered a high-value target,&#8221; the armed forces said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/us-sanctions-powerful-ecuador-crime-gang-los-lobos-leader-pipo\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">U.S. last year declared Los Lobos<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to be the largest drug trafficking organization in Ecuador.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     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