Security forces in Ecuador arrested 68 gang members after they stormed a hospital in the western city of Yaguachi.
Authorities claimed that gang members planned to take over the hospital in order to free a gang member who was brought in for medical treatment after being shot.
According to the police, the injured gang member was a senior member of the organization and died of his injuries later in the day.
The security forces responded quickly to the armed attack, managed to take control of the hospital and a nearby "rehabilitation facility" that was apparently used by the gang members to plan the attack.
Ecuador: The police arrest dozens of gunmen from the drug cartel
Drug rehabilitation and rehabilitation centers are used by the drug cartels as distribution points and headquarters within the concentrations of the weakest and most vulnerable population in the South American country.
The drug cartels have been in a wave fight with the law enforcement authorities for the past year and the army forces have been mobilized to help the police in order to try to deal with the armed crime.
Ecuador's president, Daniel Novoa, declared a state of national emergency after gunmen stormed a television station in the capital Quito and broke into the live broadcast.
Battles between the security forces and armed men have become a daily issue in the country in the past year and the criminal organizations have carried out assassinations, kidnappings and riots in prisons that have undermined the rule of law in the country. Were we wrong?
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