The National Assembly of Ecuador approved on Saturday a reform backed by President Daniel Noboa to provide the government with new legal powers to face armed groups and dismantle drug trafficking networks that feed their criminal companies.
The bill received the support of 84 of the 141 legislators present in the Legislature. Forty -six legislators voted against, ten abstained and one voted blank.
Noboa, 37, who began a four -year -old complete mandate last monthdeclared an “internal armed conflict” in January 2024 against criminal gangs, just a couple of months after being invested president for the first time.
Since he declared the campaign against gangs, Noboa has issued emergency decrees and deploying military troops on the land next to the police, significantly increasing security forces.
It has also supervised an increase in prison sentences for drug -related crimes and is looking for a closer collaboration with the United States and other nations to share intelligence and resources.
The new legal framework gives Noboa more freedom to redirect resources towards measures to fight crime. You will also have the power to pardon police and military for their conduct in security operations.
The agents under criminal investigation will also avoid preventive detention, but will be subject to evaluations every six months, according to the approved text.
The reforms also introduce sentences of up to 30 years for fuel theft, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars to the oil industry. The authorities claim that this crime, together with illegal mining, has increased in recent years and is a key source of financing for criminal gangs.
Assets linked to criminal groups can be confiscated directly by security forces, a significant change that allows a more immediate confiscation compared to the previous judicial processes, often long, of the confiscation of assets.
People who direct, belong or collaborate with these groups will face prison sentences up to 30 years. Reforms also include economic incentives for sectors affected by violence.
