The Ecuadorian military rescued 49 miners who were kidnapped by Los Lobos, one of the South American nation’s most ruthless gangs.
Footage showed troops walking through a forest in the rural town of Santa Martha, 217 miles south of the capital city of Quito, and finding the group in a makeshift camp on Wednesday.
The military said the soldiers initially were met with gunfire from at least 23 Los Lobos members before they fled. No injuries were reported.
Later during the operation, the troops found a camp covered with tarps and poles where the miners were found kneeling on the ground with their hands resting over their necks.
The soldiers were able to subdue the two gang members without incident.
Ecuadorian soldiers rescued 49 miners during an operation Wednesday in the town of Santa Martha. The military said the troops were met with gunfire from 23 members of Los Lobos, one of the most powerful gangs in the country, before they were able to escape. The troops continued canvassing the area until the found the hostages guarded by two gang member
A member of Los Lobos is questioned by the military after a troop unit rescued 49 miners
A video recorded by one of the servicemen showed a soldier interrogating one of the gang members, who claimed to have come from Colombia.
While canvassing the camp, the troops found the bodies of five people who had been previously killed. Four of the bodies had been dismembered.
Ecuador is struggling amid spiraling violent crime, prompting President Daniel Noboa several times to declare states of emergency – under which military forces patrol streets and jails.
He has also designated 22 crime gangs, including Los Lobos, as terrorist groups.
Ecuadorian soldiers and cops guard four of the 49 miners who were rescue Wednesday
Ecuadorian troops reveal the haul of weapons they found and collected
The hostages, 49 miners in all, were found kneeling in a makeshift camp by the Ecuadorian military following the latter’s gun battle with members of Lobos, one of the most powerful criminal structures in the South American country
In June, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Los Lobos and its leader Wilmer ‘Pipo’ Chavarria.
The criminal organization, which is comprised of thousands of members, was idtenfied as being Ecuador’s most prominent drug trafficking organization and fueling violence across the country.
‘Drug trafficking groups with ties to powerful drug cartels threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities in Ecuador and throughout South and Central America,’ said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, in a statement.
Los Lobos initiated as a group of assassins working under its now main rival, Los Choneros, but the December 2020 murder of Los Choneros leader, Jorge Zambrano, left a power vacuum which led to a series of attacks launched by Los Lobos and its allies against Los Choneros members in jails.
Los Lobos have increased their power by aligning itself with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization.
The gang was accused of plotting the assassination Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.
