Five people were arrested in 11 raids, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo reported.
In the early hours of Sunday, August 14, a strong explosion was recorded in the Cristo del Consuelo neighborhood, south of the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, which left five dead and 17 injured.
In addition to the fatalities and injuries, eight homes and two vehicles were destroyed, detailed the National Service for Risk and Emergency Management of Ecuador.
The Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, reported this Monday, in an interview with Teleamazonas, that the five bodies of The deceased have been handed over to their relatives.after performing the respective autopsies, which determined that none of them lost their lives due to the impact of a firearm, but rather as a result of the expansive wave of the explosion.
Of the injured people, seven have been discharged and the remaining 10 remain hospitalized, two of them in critical condition.
hypotheses
The incident occurred specifically on Tenth Street, between H and I, shortly before 03:00 in the morning (local time). Two subjects arrived on a motorcycle, fired into the air and then threw a sack. Minutes later the explosion occurred.
Carrillo attributed the responsibility for this event to organized crime and classified it as “a declaration of war on the state”.
The minister pointed out that “there are several lines of investigation” around this fact. One of the hypotheses is that the attack was directed against aliases ‘Cucaracha’ and ‘Junior’who apparently have some relationship with the band called “Los Tiguerones”.
“Alias ’Cucaracha’ apparently had the place in distress,” said the head of the Interior portfolio.
The gang “Los Tiguerones” is linked to drug micro-trafficking and is also one of those that dispute control of the country’s prisons, a conflict that has produced several massacres in recent years.
Another line of investigation, the official indicated, has to do with the seizure of about 250 kilos of drugs, which occurred on August 12 in Chongón, Guayaquil. According to Carrillo, these actions by the authorities usually produce this type of act in “retaliation.”
According to the minister, the seizure was a blow to the economy of criminal organizations. “Here what is at stake It is a purely economic motivation.illegal, underground, which can lead to these acts of enormous irrationality,” he added.
Regarding the material used for the explosion, Carrillo ruled out the use of traditional implements, although he indicated that the expertise will specifically determine the products used. In this sense, he expressed his concern about “the capacity they are having [las bandas] to build these elements in a homemade way”.
“These are amateurs who have learned from the sciences, from chemistry; what is used are homemade elementsbetween those acetone and others […] It is not the traditional use of dynamite, it is not the traditional use of pentolite, it is not the use of C4, which is not freely available. This is a mechanism that can be purchased commercially anywhere and they build it,” he explained.
Reward and detainees
On Sunday afternoon, the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, described the events as “terrorist acts” and declared a state of emergency in Guayaquil.
“The entire public force will be available to restore control of the city. We will not allow organized crime to try to control the country,” said the president.
Carrillo announced a reward of up to $10,000 for anyone who provides information leading to the capture of those responsible for the explosion. Citizens can inform the 1-800 CRIME (335486), detailed the Ministry of the Interior.
This Monday, the head of that State portfolio reported that five people had already been arrested in Guayaquil for their alleged participation in this attack with explosives, during 11 raids carried out in the city.
“These five apprehended were found with firearmswith many of the elements that could be used for these acts of terrorism,” as well as drugs and a motorcycle with characteristics similar to the one used to commit the crime, Carrillo explained.
Source: RT
