2023-12-16 22:02:22
The honorary consul of the United Kingdom in the port city of Guayaquil, Colin Armstrong, was kidnapped in the province of Los Ríos (southwest) in the midst of a growing wave of violence linked to drug traffickingthe police indicated this Saturday (12/16/2023).
According to local media, the diplomat is also an agricultural businessman and was kidnapped along with his partner during the early hours of the morning on their farm in the Baba canton.
In a message on the X network, the Police indicated that their troops carry out “operational and investigative work” in Los Ríos.
Neither the United Kingdom embassy nor the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry have commented on the matter.
Wave of violence in Ecuador
Ecuador has become in recent years a cartel operations center foreign and local drug traffickers who impose a regime of terror with massacres, kidnappings and extortion.
Numerous gangs control the prisons and the streets where violence has escalated.
Since 2018, the national homicide rate has quadrupled, going from 6 to 26 per 100,000 inhabitants.
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboain power since November, is betting on a tough policy once morest drug organizations.
Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador reached a record 210 tons of drugs seized in 2021.
JU (rtre, afp, El Universo)
1702779492
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