Ecuador thwarts prison attack with explosive drone

Quito (AFP) – Ecuadorian officials said they foiled an explosives-laden drone attack on La Roca prison on Thursday, home to former Vice President Jorge Glas, who was arrested in April during a raid on the Mexican embassy.

Published on: 05/09/2024 – 22:28

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According to the “Security Block”, a unit of police and soldiers that combats drug trafficking, the drone was intercepted while flying over the maximum-security prison.

The drone was intended to “take out” the prison, which holds about 100 inmates, the group said in a statement.

Glass was arrested on April 5 on charges of corruption at the Mexican embassy in Quito, where he had sought refuge. The raid on the embassy by Ecuadorian security forces to arrest him led to a rupture in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Last month, Mexico asked if Glas could go to a “safe place” in a third country because of his “critical” health condition.

Ecuador’s prisons, many of which have been taken over by drug gangs, have been under military control since January, when President Daniel Noboa declared a state of “internal armed conflict” in the government’s confrontation with organized crime.

This came after a particularly violent wave of violence in several parts of Ecuador, sparked by the escape from prison of one of the country’s most powerful criminals.

Once seen as a bastion of peace in Latin America, Ecuador has now been thrown into crisis by the rapid rise of international drug cartels that use the country’s ports, primarily Guayaquil, to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.