2023-12-16 19:40:02
QUITO (AP) — The Ecuadorian police confirmed on Saturday the kidnapping of the honorary consul of the United Kingdom in the Andean country, besieged by violence and crime.
The event occurred early Saturday morning in the province of Los Ríos, regarding 177 kilometers southwest of the capital, the institution reported on the social network account X, formerly Twitter.
He added that specialized units carry out operational and investigative tasks in the territory.
The police did not provide more details of the incident “so as not to interfere in the investigations,” he said in a chat with journalists.
The Associated Press contacted the consulate but did not immediately receive a response.
According to local media reports, Collin Armstrong, who is also a well-known businessman in the agricultural sector, was kidnapped in the city of Baba where he had his ranch.
Ecuador is going through a wave of insecurity and violence that has been increasing in recent years and that authorities attribute to the presence of organized crime groups linked to drug trafficking.
The influence of these criminal organizations that act with local subsidiary gangs and that dispute territories for their illicit activities, have led to an increase in robberies, kidnappings, extortion, contract killings and all types of crimes, according to the authorities.
In June, the kidnapping of an Italian businessman in Guayaquil alarmed the international community.
Kidnappings for extortion on that date had tripled in the Andean country, according to figures from the Anti-Kidnapping and Extortion Unit of the police, which, in the first half of 2023, recorded 54 cases reported and resolved with the release of 78 people.
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