Prosecutor under investigation Dramatic live armed attack last week An Ecuadorian television station was shot dead Wednesday, the country's justice minister said.
“In the face of the murder of our colleague Cesar Suárez… I will speak emphatically: organized crime groups, criminals and terrorists will not stand in the way of our commitment to Ecuadorian society,” said Justice Minister Diana Salazar. . statement aboutThe platform was previously known as Twitter.
Local media broadcast footage of Suarez's truck with a bullet hole emerging through the driver's side window on a street in the port city of Guayaquil, the center of Ecuador's war against drug gangs.
Murders take place in the meantime. surge in violence The once peaceful South American country has become a global export hub for cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru.
CHRISTIAN VINUEZA/AFP via Getty Images
Last week, the government declared war on powerful drug gangs, which have threatened to execute civilians and security forces and launched widespread attacks that have killed around 20 people.
President Daniel Noboa deployed more than 22,000 security forces to the streets, who searched and stripped young people for tattoos that indicated gang membership.
Last Tuesday, the incident was broadcast live for about 30 minutes as hooded gunmen stormed into a TV studio, shooting until police arrived on set and knocking terrified staff to the ground.
Thirteen perpetrators were arrested, many of them teenagers.
A prosecutor's official told AFP Suarez was tasked with investigating which criminal group was behind the attack.
salazar wrote on social media It's “impossible” not to be affected by the death of a colleague.
“Thank you Cesar for your hard work. Rest in peace. Solidarity with his family and friends,” she wrote.
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