Ecuador: Criminal Assailants of Armored Cash Vehicles better armed than guards, police

vía Quito – Lago Agrio extremely vulnerable to attack on armored trucks carrying cash
Assailants Using AK 47’s, sub-machine guns, dynamite, military style weapons
Attacks against armored trucks are well thought out and sophisticated in nature.
Attacks similar to some assaults in Colombia and Peru
Police at disadvantage

Javier Ortega. Editor/elcomercio.com (machine translated) The Police and the Armed Forces. Investigate the origin of the rifles used in the violent attack. It weighs 4 kilos, shoots up to 120 bullets per minute and can reach a target located up to three kilometers away. It is the light automatic rifle, known as FAL, and its ammunition, 7.62, destroys fabrics. Two of these weapons , an AK-47, an anti-aircraft and a sub-machine gun, showed the police as evidence of the attack three days ago against two armored vehicles , at km 100 of the Quito-Lago Agrio road . At the hearing against the two suspects arrested for the assault, Major Fausto Martínez, chief of the District of Sucumbíos, took a 7.62 projectile and explained the penetration capacity of that ammunition. “With one shot he destroys his hand . That’s what we face on Wednesday. ” This projectile causes small holes when it enters the body, but inside it explodes and destroys the organs. The police who organized the operation described the weapons seized as a ” war caliber “. They are sure that the hooded men made a thorough investigation before the assault was carried out . A senior officer operating in Sucumbíos is clear: it is not common crime. To explain his thesis he gets up from his seat and explains how the suspects acted in the confrontation with the police . “The way of taking the gun and aiming … made two shots and hid. That reveals that they are highly prepared in the matter of assaults. ” Five months ago there was an attempted robbery at the same kilometer of the Quito – Lago Agrio route to an armored vehicle. The suspects used heavy-gauge weapons and opened fire on the vehicle. Despite the attack, they could not open it. “Now they used dynamite, ” says the uniformed, and specifies that so far has not been identified if it is the same criminal organization. One of the agents who testified at the hearing against the detainees, explained that at times they felt at a “disadvantage”. In two occasions they could not repel the attack of the assailants. “We were at a disadvantage in number and in firepower (rifles against 9 mm pistols)”.

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Image Ammunition of war was used in the assault of two armored ones that transported values Two suspects arrested for armored assault 20 men blew up two armored vehicles Alberto Molina, a colonel in the Army in passive service, does not dare to assert that it was a paramilitary-style assault , but considers that they are not common assailants. There is sophisticated handling of explosives and war weapons (FAL and AK-47). “The conditions of the assault are worrisome.” The ex-official has seen similar attacks to armored in Colombia and Peru , executed by subversive groups. In 2007, for example, 13 suspects used incendiary bombs to steal money from an armored vehicle in Cali, Colombia. The assailants even sprayed the vehicle with gasoline and blocked the road with a utility bus and bits of wood. In Europe also have been recorded assaults of the characteristics seen Wednesday in the route Quito – Lago Agrio. Four years ago, 10 suspects used explosives to open a shield that carried 8 million euros to a bank branch in France . Press reports of the time realize that a rocket was used to open the back door of the car. In 2008, in the same country, a criminal group stole 900,000 euros from one armor. They surrounded the road with two cars and at the height of a toll they exploded with explosives. Seven years ago, in Spain , suspects armed with rifles placed explosives in an armored van, which failed to explode. Also, they obstructed the road and machine-gunned the vehicle. The two armored vehicles attacked on Wednesday have dozens of holes in the front. The day before yesterday, an agent of the Command of Sucumbíos tried to count them, but it was lost in the attempt. Everyone was struck by the ability of armament and explosives To destroy the armored cans of the vehicles. Official data reveal that three rifles carry the logo of the Ecuadorian Army and another one of the FF.AA. Of Peru . For now, it has not been explained why the suspects carried such weapons. “We are not going to speculate around the issue, here we have to do a joint work with the Armed Forces because they are FAL type weapons and they are there with the logo of our Army. It will be necessary to do a joint work to verify if this rifle was stolen or how it was lost. That is, some response we have to find, “Interior Minister Jose Serrano said. There is a precedent: Police operating in the southern border town of Macará arrested two men carrying a 38-gauge Smith Wesson revolver. The gun had a shield engraved with the caption “Police Investigation Peru”. Yesterday, October 24, in the Armed Forces. Were said to send a bulletin to give details of the armament seized after the assault on the two armored. In the afternoon they reported that the rifles were investigated along with the PJ. According to the police, the confiscated armament will be transferred to the warehouses of the Judicial Police of Pichincha. The money, on the other hand, will be delivered to Banco Pichincha when the count of all the tickets recovered is completed. In context Yesterday, the body of Marco Vinicio Salazar, guard killed in the attack on the armor, arrived in Quito. His relatives watch over him at the headquarters of a neighborhood in the north of the city. The victim turned 34 a week ago and left three small children orphaned. Read Article