みかじめ料拒んだ店の警備員に爆弾　警察が解除　エクアドル

【キト（エクアドル）ＡＦＰ＝時事】南米エクアドル南西部グアヤキルの路上で、男性の体に巻き付けられていた爆弾を爆発物処理班が解除した。警察が明らかにした。地元メディアによれば、男性は宝石店の警備員で、店主が犯罪組織に「みかじめ料」を払うことを拒んだ後、拉致されたとみられている。（写真は、エクアドル・グアヤキルで爆発物を体に巻かれた男性（中央）を移送する準備を進める警察官。エクアドル警察提供）
　警察が３月３０日夜に公開した動画には、男性の胸部にコードなどが出ている容器がテープで巻かれている様子が捉えられている。
　ソーシャルメディアに拡散された画像には、助けを待つ間、男性が頭に手をのせて通りを行ったり来たりする姿が映っていた。
　市民が安全な距離から動画や写真を撮る中、警察は男性に防弾チョッキとヘルメットを着用させて移動させ、爆発物を処理した。
　警察によると、男性にけがはないという。
　地元の警察署長はツイッターに、「爆発装置を解除した警察官と爆発物処理班の勇気とプロフェッショナルな仕事ぶりは称賛に値する」と投稿している。
　ギャング同士の抗争が後を絶たないエクアドルの中でも、特にグアヤキルでは暴力事件が多く、誘拐や恐喝が頻発している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/03-16:42）

Ecuadoran explosives experts defused a bomb on the streets of Guayaquil Thursday that criminals had strapped to a security guard after his employer refused to pay protection money, police and media said.
In a video released by the police late Thursday, the man is seen with packages taped to his chest -- tubes and wires sticking into the air.
As onlookers took video and photos from a safe distance, police covered the man in a protective vest and helmet and led him away to deactivate the bomb.
The man came out of the ordeal in good health, police said.
Images widely distributed on social media showed the man pacing up and down the street, putting his hand to his head, as he waited for help to arrive.
I congratulate the courage and professional work of our police officers and the anti-explosive team in disabling the... explosive device, police chief Fausto Salinas wrote on Twitter.
Local media reported the victim was a security guard at a jewelery store, and was allegedly taken after its owner refused to be shaken down by criminals.
Guayaquil, in Ecuador's southwest, is one of the most violent cities in a country gripped by a wave of crime blamed on gang rivalries.
Kidnappings and extortion are commonplace.
Ecuador is sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest cocaine producers, and has itself become a hub for the global drug trade in recent years.
Earlier this month, letter bombs were sent to at least five journalists working in TV and radio in Guayaquil and the capital Quito.
President Guillermo Lasso has declared war on gangs who control the drug trade from prisons engulfed by extreme violence and riots that have left more than 400 inmates dead since 2021.
Ecuador has seen its murder rate jump from 14 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021 to 25 per 100,000 in 2022.