病院襲撃の６８人逮捕　ギャング構成員か　エクアドル

【キト（エクアドル）ＡＦＰ＝時事】南米エクアドルの警察は２１日、南西部グアヤス州の病院を占拠しようとした６８人を逮捕した。同国では犯罪組織のリーダーの脱獄を発端に、ギャングと治安当局が「戦争状態」に陥っている。（写真は、エクアドル・グアヤス州で地面に伏す、病院襲撃を試み逮捕された男ら）
　警察はＸ（旧ツイッター）に「グアヤス州ヤグアチにある病院施設の占拠を試みたテロリストとされる者たちを無効化した」と投稿した。
　逮捕者らは、襲撃の数時間前に負傷して同病院に運び込まれた仲間の救出を試みたとみられる。銃火器や麻薬も押収された。
　警察はまた、「リハビリセンター」の一つを急襲したと発表。このセンターにはギャングの拠点が置かれ、売春施設ともなっており、ギャング構成員とされる複数人が身を隠していた。
　エクアドル当局は最近、数百か所に及ぶ同様の施設を閉鎖。これらは実質的にギャングが運営する秘密の病院となっているが、まともな医療設備はないという。
　エクアドルでは今月、同国最大の犯罪組織「ロス・チョネロス」のリーダー、ホセ・アドルフォ・マシアス容疑者が脱獄して以来、治安が極度に悪化。ダニエル・ノボア大統領はギャングと「戦争状態」にあるとし、非常事態を宣言した。
　この宣言に麻薬カルテルは即座に対抗し、民間人と治安部隊の殺害をほのめかした。一時、警察官や刑務所職員が人質に取られたが、その後解放されている。
　人口１７００万人のエクアドルには約２０のギャングが存在し、構成員は２万人を超える。 【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/22-16:34）

Police in violence-plagued Ecuador arrested 68 people Sunday who had attempted to take over a hospital in the country's southwest in the midst of a war between drug gangs and the security forces.
The arrests came as Quito agreed with neighboring Andean nations Peru, Colombia and Bolivia to launch a new security network, with the deal reached at an emergency meeting held as the region watches bloodshed spiral in once-peaceful Ecuador.
We neutralized alleged terrorists who were trying to take over the facilities of a hospital in Yaguachi, Guayas, police announced on social media.
Those detained were believed to be trying to rescue a colleague who was admitted to the hospital with injuries hours earlier, it added.
Firearms and drugs were seized.
Police said they also raided a rehabilitation center that housed a gang command center and brothel, and where several alleged gang members were hiding.
Ecuadoran authorities have recently closed hundreds of such centers, essentially gang-run clandestine hospitals that officials say do not have proper facilities for patient care.
Once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, Ecuador has been plunged into crisis after years of expansion by transnational cartels that use its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
After a recent spate of violence sparked by the prison escape of Adolfo Macias, a drug kingpin known as Fito, President Daniel Noboa imposed a state of emergency and declared the country in a war against gangs.
Drug cartels reacted swiftly, threatening to execute civilians and security forces and taking hostage dozens of police and prison officials, since released.
There are some 20 criminal groups in the country of 17 million people, with membership thought to exceed 20,000.
- New security network launched -
The violence prompted ministers of Andean countries to create a new Andean security network against organized crime, according to a signed official declaration at an emergency meeting in Lima on Sunday.
The network will guarantee a 24/7 service to provide and receive information, and/or request information from other countries... on the activity of criminal groups that have, or may have, transnational operations, said the declaration from the Andean Community, comprised of members Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia.
Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld hailed the agreement as a new chapter.
Fear paralyzes countries, she stressed. We have seen that fear has paralyzed Ecuador, paralyzed investment, increased unemployment and migration.
Peru and Colombia had already tightened border controls, fearing an influx of criminals fleeing the crackdown in Ecuador.
The United States also announced Sunday that a delegation would visit Ecuador to consider options to accelerate bilateral security cooperation and discuss collaborative approaches to confront the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations.
Highlighting the extent of the drug trade in the region, authorities in both Colombia and Ecuador announced over the weekend that they had intercepted two semi-submersible vessels loaded with tons of drugs in their respective Pacific waters.
Three people on each vessel were arrested.
burs-st/dva