QUITO, ECUADOR – It’s been nearly three months since Ecuador President Daniel Noboa declared an internal war against armed groups operating in the country in an attempt to quell the recent escalation of violence. But a series of investigations has revealed how deeply entrenched organized crime has become in Ecuador’s highest levels of government, including its justice system.
The most recent corruption scandal came to light April 3, when officials raided homes and arrested 14 judges, lawyers and security officials across the country over their suspected connection with organized crime.
The arrests are part of a special investigation dubbed “Caso Plaga,” plague case, where the Ecuador attorney general’s office says suspects accepted bribes in exchange for special favors for inmates or the release of sentenced prisoners.
This isn’t the first scandal to hit Ecuador in recent months. In December, the agency arrested nearly 30 politicians, top judges, lawyers and security officials as part of a probe called “Caso Metastasis.” Arrestees included a former judge of the National Court of Justice, a former head of the country’s prison system and a former judge of the Criminal Guarantees Judicial Unit, shaking the core of Ecuador’s justice system.
Attorney General Diana Salazar, who is largely seen as spearheading the investigations, called Metastasis “the largest in [Ecuador’s] history against corruption and drug trafficking” that “evidences the deep structural decomposition” in the country. Another mass arrest occurred in March, with 13 more detentions of judicial staffers and others. The number of defendants connected to Metastasis has reached 52 so far.
Investigators say the suspects are part of a large criminal network once headed by Leandro Norero, a top financial ally of three gangs, Los Lobos, Los Tiguerones and Los Chone Killers. Norero was murdered in prison in 2022. When the attorney general’s office gained access to Norero’s phones, it decrypted his chat logs and found ongoing conversations with numerous judiciary, legislative and security forces who helped the gang leader with special favors.
Metastasis quickly led to offshoot investigations. In March, dozens of judicial staffers, including nine judges, were arrested in the coastal province of Guayas for their connection with organized crime as part of “Caso Purga” (purge case). This criminal network came to light from the phone records of Mayra Salazar, a suspect arrested in connection with Metastasis.
How did we get here?
These investigations are only the “tip of the iceberg” according to Renato Rivera, director of the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime (OECO).
Kimberley Michelle Brown 