Ecuador has begun building a maximum-security prison for 800 inmates – a prison that will house the country's most dangerous drug barons.
The construction is the latest measure taken since the country declared war on criminal gangs.
This day marks one of the most important milestones in our fight against terrorism and the mafia groups that have been able to wreak havoc with impunity in our country for decades, said President Daniel Noboa at an event marking the start of the prison construction in the coastal city of Santa Elena.
The once peaceful Ecuador has been hit by a wave of violence in recent years, triggered by transnational cartels using the country's ports to transport cocaine to the USA and Europe.
Gangs control several prisons – where more than 460 inmates have been killed in three years in bloody drug conflicts.
The President declared a national state of emergency and war on drug cartels in January, as the situation escalated following the escape of the feared drug lord Adolfo Macias from a maximum-security prison. He is still at large.
According to Noboa, the government is allocating approximately 546 million kronor to the construction of the new prison. The plan is to build it in "record time": 300 days.
