A sign on the doorway said “For rent” and the house’s lights were out. But the assault team were convinced a group of armed gang members lurked inside and they were determined to smoke them out. As darkness enveloped Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, six truckloads of military and police troopers screeched to a halt in front of the seemingly vacant home.
Some pummelled its front and side entrances with steel battering rams, crowbars and fists. Others scrambled up its outer wall.
Soon their hunch was confirmed. One suspect leapt from a second-floor window and ran across a corrugated roof. As the security forces finally stormed the house, a second man was wrestled to the ground inside a bedroom.
