Ecuador's national police have captured 18 suspected members of a criminal group who could have ties to drugs and arms trafficking, as well as murders and terrorism, with possible ties to an illegal armed group in Colombia, the organization said on Friday.
The detainees, identified by police as Los Tiguerones, included three police officers in active service and a well-known footballer. The suspects, who were managed from a prison in the north of the country, were captured in the city of Esmeraldas, close to the border with Colombia, the officials said.
"This group had an established link to the Colombian group Oliver Sinisterra Front, belonging to former FARC dissidents," Carlos Cabrera, commander of Ecuador's national police, told journalists in Esmeraldas.
