Ecuador imposes 60-day emergency and curfew as crackdown on gangs intensifies

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa issued an executive decree establishing a 60-day state of emergency in eight provinces—El Oro, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Rios, Manabi, Pichincha, Santa Elena and Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas—and imposing a night-time curfew from September 17 to 30 in four coastal regions. The order removes the right to home inviolability, allowing the National Police and Armed Forces to carry out warrantless searches where criminal activity is suspected.

Citing intelligence from the National Intelligence Center, the government framed the move as a response to "serious internal unrest" driven by transnational cartels and gangs like Los Choneros, which have diversified into extortion, kidnapping and illegal mining. homicide figures compiled by InSight Crime show a 2025 rate of 51 murders per 100,000 people, roughly one killing per hour. The crackdown aligns with strengthened defence ties to the United States; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently completed a second visit to Quito, praising Noboa as a key partner in regional counter-narcotics. The US Southern Command announced that its Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere intercepted and sank a floating refuelling station in the Eastern Pacific that was supporting smuggling runs linked to Los Choneros, with the crew handed over to Ecuadorian authorities before the vessel was scuttled.