Another high-profile prison escape reveals extent of corruption among military guards

The escape last week of Leandro Norero, alias “Fede,” from Guayaquil’s Litoral Prison, once again highlights the extent of corruption within the country’s penal system. Unlike earlier escapes, Norero’s was the result of bribes paid to soldiers charged with maintaining order in the prison, prosecutors say.

Leandro Norero, alias “Fede,” during an earlier arrest.

“There was an exchange of more than a million dollars in the Norero escape and the preliminary investigation shows that multiple armed forces personnel received payment,” says prosecutor César Suárez. “The case, once again, reveals serious management problems within the prisons but also the susceptibility of soldiers to corruption.”

Norero’s was the second high-profile escape from Litoral in 18 months. In January 2024, José Adolfo Macías, Alias “Fito,” bribed his way out of prison, initiating President Daniel Noboa’s nationwide offensive against criminal gangs. Norero was Macías’s lieutenant in management of the Los Choneros and Los Águilas gangs.

According to Suárez, Norero’s escape was planned and executed with the logistical support of the soldiers. “This and other recent escapes destroy the claim that replacing prison system guards with members of the armed forces would eliminate corruption,” he said. “Large amounts of money, obviously, do not recognize institutional boundaries. The military and police are a big part of the corruption within the prisons.”

Suárez says that 19 soldiers are under investigation in Norero’s escape.

Luis Altamirano, former commander of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces, says corruption has increased in recent years within the military. “This has happened in conjunction with the rise of criminality across the country, as more money is being offered by gangs and cartels to members of armed forces,” he says. “The current command must find ways to control this but it is a tall order given conditions in the country.”

Much of the blame for prison corruption generally, and Norero’s case in particular, says Altamirano, belongs to the government. “The use of armed forces in the prisons was advertised as a temporary measure to control violence and this made sense early last year,” he says. “But now, a year and a half later, the soldiers remain in the prisons, and little has been done to replace them with better-trained prison guards. The military is not trained to patrol prisons, just as it is not trained in police work.”

He adds: “We cannot continue indefinitely in emergency status. We must find solutions at the institutional level to fix the underlying problems.”