- Soldiers and officers inspecting the prison in Cotopaxi, Ecuador, found it had been redesigned with a swimming pool and nightclub
- Some prisoners were able to exchange their normal cells for cells equipped with double beds
- The results of the raid were revealed on Saturday as the government battles to regain control of prisons influenced by notorious gangs
Ecuadorian security forces took control of a prison where gang members and other criminals enjoyed a Club Med-style stay.
The prison, located in the central province of Cotopaxi, had a swimming pool and a nightclub with LED lights where wealthy prisoners serving their sentences and awaiting trial enjoyed their time away from law-abiding citizens, the military revealed on Saturday.
Some prisoners in the prison took advantage of the comfort of so-called ‘VIP cells’ with double beds.
Officers and soldiers also found premium liquor bottles and drugs to which the prisoners had direct access, as well as designer clothes, mobile phones, watches, internet adapters, memory cards for laptops, a wireless speaker and a surveillance camera.
“There is no more luxury or privilege thanks to the soldiers of the Armed Forces,” a military spokeswoman said in the video as Tupac Shakur’s “Dear Mama” played in the background.
Soldiers and police raided a prison in Ecuador’s central Cotopaxi province and discovered a swimming pool. The military said the prison also contained a nightclub, along with cells equipped with double beds for prisoners
Ecuadorian soldiers display bottles of liquor, cellphones, watches and drugs seized at prison in central Cotopaxi province
One prisoner, who did not have the money to enjoy the luxury tastes enjoyed by other prisoners, welcomed the surprise raid because he felt a sense of ‘peace’.
“The truth is, we haven’t all eaten. They just made a so-called soup of water and bones,” he said. ‘Sausage and tuna were for commanders. They ate that and gave us pure water.
‘We are all the same here. We all eat the same. We notice an improvement.’
The operation is part of the government’s ongoing war against gangs after an armed group invaded the studios of TC Television on January 9.
José Villamar, leader of Los Choneros, one of the Ecuadorian gangs believed responsible a spike in car bombings, kidnappings and murders, was found missing a day earlier from his prison cell, where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking.
The escape of José “Fito” Villamar from a prison in the Pacific port city of Guayaquil and a wave of violence that has swept across the Andean country have led to reforms.
President Daniel Noboa imposed a 60-day state of emergency, suspending citizens’ rights and sending the military into prison, and labeling 22 criminal gangs as terrorist groups.
The military is allowed to enter prisons and conduct searches as part of the 60-day state of emergency declared by Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa earlier this month
José “Fito” Macías is the leader of Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian gang with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, who is missing after fleeing from guards accompanying a Guayaquil prison to a clinic for a doctor’s appointment on December 25.
On Friday, Ecuador’s Supreme Court blocked nine questions Noboa wanted to ask Ecuadorians in a referendum on security issues.
The court ruled that the president’s plan did not meet constitutional requirements.
Six other questions for the referendum were approved, while four others, including on the extradition of Ecuadorians and the recognition of international arbitration, will be re-examined, the Constitutional Court said.
Noboa had said he hopes to hold the referendum in March.
In its ruling, the Constitutional Court said it was blocking the nine questions because they do not change current regulations, are imprecise or cover multiple topics.
The court denied, among other things, questions about allowing security forces to carry out operations to counter organized crime, and about changes to sanctions and pardons related to the use of force.