The Ecuadorian army rescued 49 miners who were kidnapped by Los Lobos, one of the most ruthless gangs in the South American country.
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 army said the soldiers were initially met with gunfire by at least 23 members of Los Lobos 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 kneeling on the ground with their hands resting on their necks.
The soldiers managed to subdue the two gang members without incident.
Ecuadorean soldiers rescued 49 miners during an operation Wednesday in the town of Santa Martha. The army said the troops were met with gunfire by 23 members of Los Lobos, one of the country’s most powerful gangs, before they were able to escape. The troops continued patrolling the area until they found the hostages guarded by two gang members.
A member of Los Lobos is questioned by the military after a troop unit rescued 49 miners
A video recorded by one of the soldiers showed a soldier interrogating one of the gang members, who claimed to have come from Colombia.
Upon inspecting the camp, troops found the bodies of five people who had been killed earlier. Four of the bodies were dismembered.
Ecuador is in the midst of a spiral of violent crime, prompting President Daniel Noboa to repeatedly declare states of emergency, under which military forces patrol streets and prisons.
It has also designated 22 criminal gangs, including Los Lobos, as terrorist groups.
Ecuadorian soldiers and police guard four of the 49 miners who were rescued on Wednesday
Ecuadorian troops reveal the cache of weapons they found and collected
The hostages, 49 miners in total, were found kneeling in a makeshift camp set up by the Ecuadorian army after the latter had a shootout 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 their leader Wilmer “Pipo” Chavarría.
The criminal organization, made up of thousands of members, was identified as the most important drug trafficking organization in Ecuador and the one that fuels violence throughout 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,” Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in a statement.
Los Lobos began as a group of assassins working for their main rival, Los Choneros, but the December 2020 assassination of Los Choneros leader Jorge Zambrano left a power vacuum that led to a series of attacks launched by Los Lobos and their allies against Los Choneros members in prisons.
The Lobos have increased their power by aligning themselves with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the most powerful criminal organization in Mexico.
The gang was accused of planning the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.