The Ecuadorian army rescued 49 miners kidnapped by the Los Lobos gang.

In the images, it can be seen that the soldiers found the group walking in a forest in the town of Santa Martha, 350 km south of the capital Quito. The soldiers initially encountered gunfire from at least 23 Los Lobos members, but the gang members fled. There were no injuries in the incident.

MINERS FOUND IN A CAMP

During the operation, the soldiers found a camp where the miners were found kneeling on the ground with their hands on their necks. Two gang members were successfully neutralized. In a video recorded by a soldier, it can be seen that one gang member said he came from Colombia.

During the search in the camp, the soldiers found five corpses that had been previously killed and four of them were dismembered.

Ecuador is struggling with increasing violent crimes, which has led President Daniel Noboa to declare a state of emergency multiple times. President Noboa declared 22 criminal gangs, including Los Lobos, as terrorist groups. In June, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Los Lobos and its leader Wilmer 'Pipo' Chavarria.

INCREASING VIOLENT INCIDENTS

The crime organization, consisting of thousands of members, has been identified as Ecuador's most important drug trafficking organization and has fueled violence nationwide. Los Lobos initially emerged as an assassin group working under the command of their main rival Los Choneros, but the killing of Los Choneros leader Jorge Zambrano in December 2020 created a power vacuum that led to a series of attacks by Los Lobos and its allies against Los Choneros members in prisons.

Los Lobos strengthened their power by forming an alliance with Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico's most powerful crime organization. The gang was accused of plotting an assassination against Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.