2024 January On 9 January 2024, organized crime groups in Ecuador issued threats of "war", prompting the country's president to declare a state of armed internal conflict and authorize military operations against these groups. On the same day, Los Choneros gunmen Later in the day, the
Ecuadorian police raided the TV studio, released the journalists, and arrested the gang members. Some of the attackers were reported to be minors. In Quito at 3 p.m., officials of the
Palacio de Carondelet in the historic center and other state institutions were evacuated for safety. Many businesses closed their commercial activities for the day. An explosive device was later found and deactivated in the vicinity of the
Obelisco de la Vicentina. It was also reported that the vehicle restriction system called
pico y placa was suspended until further notice. Several hospitals in Guayaquil were targets of violent acts, including , , , El Niño and . The assaults on the hospitals ranged from robberies of medical personnel to shooting at medical facilities. During an attack near Ceibos Hospital, the singer
Diego Gallardo (also known as "Aire del Golfo") and a high school student were shot and wounded. Both were treated at the same hospital, where Gallardo died from his injuries. Concurrently, another group took police officers hostage, coercing them to read a message characterizing the events as a reaction to Noboa's declared state of emergency. Two police officers were killed in an attack in
Nobol. One gang announcement threatened to kill anyone out in the streets after 11 p.m. Banks, markets, and shops were closed throughout the country in cities such as Quito and Guayaquil to protect merchants and customers from armed attacks. On 10 January, a special
KLM flight was made to Ecuador to get seven Dutch nationals out of the country following an emergency call on
X (Twitter) by Dutch television personality . On 11 January, two people were killed and nine others were injured in an arson attack on a nightclub in
Coca which also destroyed 11 stores. On 13 January, the government announced that all 178 prison guards and other employees held hostage in prisons across the country since that start of the unrest by the gangs had been freed. On 17 January, public prosecutor
César Suárez, who was leading the investigation into the attack on the TV station, was shot and killed in a daylight attack in Guayaquil. The gunmen are believed to be members of
Los Chone Killers, a splinter group of Los Choneros. On 18 January, security forces stormed Guayaquil's central prison as part of a major operation. Later that day, the army claimed on X (Twitter) that they were "in control of the external and internal perimeter of the penitentiary complex" and shared photos from within the prison. On 21 January, police thwarted an attempt by gangs to seize a hospital in
Yaguachi, resulting in 68 arrests. It is believed that the failed attack was meant to "rescue a colleague" who had been admitted earlier that day. A rehabilitation center found to contain local gang headquarters was also raided.
February On 7 February, soon after leaving a city council meeting, councillor
Diana Carnero was shot in
Naranjal while filming a video regarding the city's poor road conditions. She died at a local hospital. On 23 February, three prisoners escaped from a prison in
Latacunga that were recently captured by security forces from members of
Los Lobos.
March On 8 March, President Noboa extended the state of emergency by thirty days. The murder rate had halved from 24 killings a day to twelve and over 11,700 people had been arrested since the beginning of the conflict. On 16 March,
El País reported that the government was creating
genetic profiles of inmates to both make it easier to identify deaths in cases of
prison riots and in case of
identity theft. On 24 March,
Brigitte García, the mayor of
San Vicente, was found dead with gunshot wounds in her car in
Manabí Province, along with her staffer Jairo Loor. The killer has not been captured. On 28 March, three inmates were killed and six others were injured following a prison riot at the Regional 8 penitentiary in Guayaquil. On 29 March, eleven people were abducted in Manabí Province. Five of them were later found killed execution-style while the remaining six, including five children, were released. Two suspects were released the next day. Police said the victims may have been tourists caught up in a drug dispute.
April On 17 April, Jose Sanchez, the mayor of
Camilo Ponce Enríquez,
Azuay Province, was shot dead, followed on 19 April by Jorge Maldonado, the mayor of
Portovelo,
El Oro Province. On 22 April, a dismembered body inside a bag was found near the residence of Diana Salazar in Quito, it was later reported that the victim was identified as a 19-year old Venezuelan and that the killing might have been a "message" directed to Salazar.
May On 11 May, eight people were killed in a gun attack on a bar hosting a birthday party in
Chanduy,
Santa Elena Province.
June On 2 June, Cristhian Nieto, alternate assemblyman for Mónica Salazar, alongside his wife Nicole Burgos and a bystander Steven Mendoza were killed inside a circus in
Manta, Manabí Province.
September On 3 September director of Lago Agrio prison Alex Guevara was killed by gunshot in a targeted assassination. On 12 September,
María Daniela Icaza, director of
Litoral Penitentiary, was killed in a targeted shooting.
October On 23 October, Ecuadorian police said that two men involved in the TV attack in Guayaquil on 9 January had been arrested in
Spain. This included William Alcívar Bautista, the leader of the Tiguerones.
November On 28 November, a 17-year-old girl was abducted by four local gang members near her home in Cota Mil, she was then robbed, forced out of the car and shot several times, her body was discovered the following morning.
December On 1 December,
ten men in a rental home, in the town of
El Guabo, were gunned down by members of the Sao-Box cartel. On 5 December, the prison director of El Oro No. 1 Deprivation of Liberty Center and one other person were attacked by armed men while driving in a vehicle. The prognosis of both victims is guarded.
2026 March In March 2026, Ecuador sank a
Narco-submarine located in a
mangrove swamp in the Cayapas–Mataje nature reserve near the Northern border, with a drug smuggling camp located nearby. Later in the month, Colombian President
Gustavo Petro claimed that Ecuador had bombed a site in Colombia along the
Colombia–Ecuador border, after the burned remains of 27 individuals and an unexploded bomb were discovered. Noboa retorted that the Ecuadorian military only fought within the borders Ecuador, but continued saying that Ecuador would continue to fight "narco-terrorism", pointing out that many of those he described as such were of Colombian origin. He went further exclaiming that Petro neglected the border and in so doing allowed criminal groups into Columbia. This rhetoric on both sides came in the midst of a tariff standoff between the two nations, that began in January, when Ecuador placed a "security tax" tariff on Colombia at a rate of 30%, due to the Ecuadorians government's perceived lacking of Colombia controlling its border. Colombia responded with reciprocal tariffs in return. == Direct United States participation and bombing ==