Police consider ways to stop drone attacks in prisons; Noboa claims ‘mafiosi’ in National Assembly; 652 ‘irregular’ gold mines investigated by attorney general

Police and military officials say they are looking for “high-tech” methods to stop drone attacks like the one that struck the maximum-security La Roca prison in Guayaquil early Thursday morning. According to the police report, a drone carrying 40 kilos of explosives landed on the roof of the prison and were detonated “in a controlled manner” by the police Intervention and Rescue Group. The explosion caused extensive damage, but no prison staff or prisoners were injured.

Interior Minister Monica Palencia said the attack was the work of a drug cartel aimed at facilitating the escape of prisoners. “Fortunately, the attempt failed and all the prisoners are safe,” she said.

Smoke rises from the roof of La Roca prison after a drone attack on Thursday.

“We are studying surveillance techniques that can identify and deter such attacks in the future,” Jaime Vela, head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. “Until such techniques are available, Vela said, La Roca and other prisons housing high-profile criminals would deploy trained snipers to shoot down incoming drones.

Among those held in La Roca are former Vice President Jorge Glas, former MP Pablo Muentes and Carlos Angulo, convicted of the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

AG office investigates more than 652 ‘irregular’ gold mines
The attorney general’s office says it has evidence that 652 mining concessions were illegally approved by the Mining Regulation and Control Agency (Arcom), a division of the Ministry of Mines. Prosecutors say they believe several employees at the agency accepted bribes from criminal gangs to award the concessions, nearly all for gold mining. Police raided Arcom’s offices in Quito on Tuesday and seized documents and digital data.

“We are investigating what we believe to be widespread corruption at Arcom, with some employees collaborating with criminal gangs to award mining concessions,” the attorney general’s office said. The attorney general said many of the “irregular” concessions were in environmentally sensitive areas that are off-limits to mining.

Prosecutors are also investigating a significant increase in the number of mining processing plants that have been licensed since 2022. “Many of these plants cannot verify where mining extracts were produced and do not maintain records of the ownership of mines that supply the material,” a prosecutor said. “We believe that much of the material is being produced by illegal mines or mines that have obtained concessions through bribery.”

The prosecutor continued: “Ultimately, we believe that large amounts of drug money are being laundered through the entire mining network. Our job now is to follow the money.”

Noboa claims there are ‘mafiosos’ in the National Assembly
During a police ceremony in Manta on Wednesday, President Daniel Noboa claimed that drug cartels and gangs have representation in Ecuador’s National Assembly. “Some of the mafias are on the streets and in the neighborhoods, but others have seats in the National Assembly,” he said. He suggested that voters should “clean up their act” in February’s elections.

Speaking on the delivery of vehicles and equipment to the National Police, Noboa praised the success of joint police and military operations against organized crime. “We are dismantling criminal structures, arresting leaders of terrorist groups and seizing their drugs and weapons,” he said.

The most important thing, Noboa said, was protecting the public from drug criminals. “We have reduced crime by almost 20% in 2024 and in the province of Manabí, the number of homicides has decreased by 55%. I am here today to commend the work of the National Police and the Armed Forces, but also to ask for the continued support of the Ecuadorian people to help us rid the country of the scourge of crime.”