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In a significant move against organized crime, Ecuador’s attorney general’s office announced the detention of 12 individuals, including judges, as part of the ongoing “Metastasis” investigation in Guayas province.

Attorney General Diana Salazar highlighted the operation’s importance, stating, “This case is a demonstration of how corruption is generated from the high spheres of legislative politics, putting the administration of justice in one of the most influential provinces of the country at their disposition and obviously at the disposition of drug traffickers.” Among the notable arrests was Maria Fabiola G. R., the former president of Guayas’ court of justice.

The crackdown extends beyond the judiciary to include a former politician, his wife, and several other judges, with law enforcement also searching the premises of the current head of the provincial justice court. The attorney general’s office, which usually refrains from disclosing full names of the arrested or charged individuals, launched the “Metastasis” investigation following the 2022 prison murder of accused money launderer Leandro Norero, pointing to a deep-seated corruption network within the country’s judicial and legislative systems.

This development follows a series of arrests made in December, targeting judicial staff and others linked to an investigation into drug trafficking gangs, which President Daniel Noboa has vowed to destroy, labeling 22 gangs in the country as terrorist organizations and declaring the nation at war.