Noboa deploys 4,000 police and military personnel to Quito to combat recent crime wave

President Daniel Noboa ordered the deployment of 4,000 additional police and military personnel to Quito with the aim of combatting a “crime wave” the government blames on criminal gangs.

President Daniel Noboa had ordered an additional 4,000 police and military personnel to Quito to confront the recent increase in crime.

“A safe national capital translates to a safe country,” Noboa said Monday in a social media post. “We have defended this city in the past from those who intended to create chaos and anarchy, today we will do it again. To those who believe they can intimidate the government and its capital, I say one thing, every attack will be met with a stronger response.”

The “Quito Protection Plan” announced by Noboa includes an additional 2,000 police and 2,000 soldiers in the areas of highest concentration of people, such as offices, educational centers, metro stations, bus stops, markets, banks and neighborhoods. It also includes deployment of police and military personnel to areas that have experienced high rates of crime in recent months.

According to the plan, uniformed agents will be on duty from 4 to 11 in the morning and from 5 in the afternoon until 2 a.m.

Although Quito has much lower murder and violent crime rates than the country’s coastal cities, the presidential press office said Noboa is taking “preemptive measures to confront the recent increase of crime that has emerged” in the city.

The security plan also includes the use of additional patrol cars, motorcycles and 20 drones, to reduce police response time to 911 calls and to monitor possible criminal activity. “We will intensify vehicle checks at the city entrances and increase surveillance in neighborhoods with the highest presence of criminal structures,” the press office said.