Kidnappers in Ecuador are using increasingly sadistic tactics, including amputating the fingers of their victims, to pressure their relatives into paying higher ransoms. Reports of kidnappings have tripled in the first five months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, while Crime in general has risen five-fold. Much of the criminal activity is not linked to large drug gangs but is the work of common criminals, bus robbers, or low-profile thieves. Thirteen major crime gangs now exist in Ecuador, and in April the government declared members of organized crime to be terrorists and empowered the military to pursue them.

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