Ecuador police announce arrest of major gang leader in Panama – JURIST

Ecuadorian police announced on Friday the arrest of Julio Alberto MA, also known as ‘Negro Tulio’, the leader of the Chone gang, in Panama. He is implicated in the January 2024 murder of prosecutor Cesar Suarez, who was investigating organized transnational crime in Guayas province.

On June 1, Ecuadorian authorities confirmed that Julio M., alias ‘Negro Tulio’, leader of ‘Los ChoneKillers’, arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He was detained in Panama together with Alexandra E. in coordination with the Panamanian authorities and the Ecuadorian National Police. The persons are believed to belong to the terrorist group ‘Chone Killers’.

Prosecutor Suarez was shot in his car in Guayaquil. Two suspects were initially arrested for his murder, which police said had the hallmarks of an assassination attempt. The arrest of “Negro Tulio” in Panama is an important development in the case. Ecuador is currently embroiled in a war against drug cartels that use the country’s ports to ship narcotics to the United States and Europe. The government has declared a state of emergency and sent soldiers into prisons and the streets of Guayaquil, the nerve center of anti-gang operations.

The arrest of ‘negro Tulio’ comes as Ecuador cracks down on powerful criminal gangs such as Los Lobos, whose leader Fabricio Colón Pico was also recently arrested. These groups have been involved in a wave of violence, including the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicenio last year.

However, the escalating violence has raised concerns among Ecuadorians, who recently voted in a referendum for stricter security measures to combat the crime wave.

Ecuador has become a hub for transnational criminal networks due to its strategic location between the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, and its major ports. Colombian armed groups, Mexican cartels and Albanian networks all have a presence in the country, subcontracting Ecuadorian gangs for drug trafficking and money laundering operations.