An earlier publish on social media by the Ecuadorean armed forces acknowledged that there have been three girls among the many kidnap victims. <\/p>\n
Dynamite, weapons and ammunition have been seized in the course of the raid, safety forces additionally mentioned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Los Lobos is likely one of the strongest gangs in Ecuador with an estimated 8,000 members.<\/p>\n
Initially a jail gang accused of instigating a few of Ecuador’s bloodiest jail riots, Los Lobos has expanded its operations and now wields appreciable energy outdoors the jail system.<\/p>\n
Its members are concerned in contract killings, kidnappings for ransom and extortion.<\/p>\n
The gang has additionally solid hyperlinks with the Mexican Jalisco New Technology cartel (CJNG), for which it smuggles cocaine from Colombia via Ecuador’s port cities to the US and Europe.<\/p>\n
Fuelled by drug cash and armed by their Mexican allies, Los Lobos have change into a formidable enemy for the Ecuadorean state.<\/p>\n
In January, following a very bloody wave of killings and assaults, President Daniel Noboa deployed the military to attempt to quell the violence.<\/p>\n
Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest metropolis and its most necessary port, has up to now been the worst hit by gang-related violence however the raid in Azuay means that mining areas are actually seen as profitable targets by Los Lobos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n