’We are winning’: Ecuador deports rebel leader and seizes 22 tonnes of cocaine

Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa said on 22 January that homicide rates were falling in his country, after a state of emergency was put in place in the Andean nation to restore law and order The address came as Ecuador’s police deported the leader of a Colombian armed group, the Oliver Sinisterra Front, and announced the seizure of a record 22 tonnes of cocaine. The military operation, which followed six months of planning and surveillance, resulted in one of the country’s biggest drug seizures two weeks into an “internal armed conflict“ against organised crime. Read more: Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: Get the latest headlines: and Yo