For years, Ecuador enjoyed a relative degree of peace, as its neighbours, Colombia and Peru, were wrangling with internal conflicts as they supplied cocaine around the world. However, things have changed dramatically in recent times. Gangs in Ecuador, such as Los Choneros and Los Lobos, have wrecked havoc in the prisons and on the streets as they fight for control over the lucrative cocaine trafficking business. Car bombs have gone off, police officers and prison guards have been kidnapped or held hostage, and masked gunmen even took over a television station live on air. On 9 January 2024, the recently elected president, Daniel Noboa, said that the country was in a state of ‘internal armed conflict’ against 22 criminal groups that he described as ‘narco-terrorists’.