"On January 9, 2024, 13 armed men forcibly took over the TC Television station in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and took its news program crew hostage on air, as cameras rolled. While pointing their guns at journalists, one of the masked assailants spoke on a cell phone. On the other end of the line, according to later reports from Ecuadorian police, was William Joffre Alcivar Bautista a.k.a. Black Willy or Commander Willy, who was running the operation from Spain."
"On December 29, Spanish authorities released him after the expiration of the deadline for officials from the South American country to file pre-extradition safeguards. Black Willy, the frontperson of Los Tiguerones, one of Ecuador's most violent gangs, controls an army of hitmen dedicated to extortion, kidnapping, car bombings and dominating the drug trafficking industry across entire cities in Ecuador. The assault on TC Television marked a turning point in the country's security crisis."
William Joffre Alcivar Bautista, known as Black Willy or Commander Willy, directed the January 9, 2024 takeover of TC Television from Spain, in which armed assailants took journalists hostage on air. Spanish authorities arrested him in Calafell and released him on December 29 after Ecuador failed to file pre-extradition safeguards before the deadline. Black Willy leads Los Tiguerones, a violent gang responsible for extortion, kidnapping, car bombings and drug-trafficking across Ecuadorian cities. The TC Television attack prompted President Daniel Noboa to declare an internal armed conflict and place civil security under military control. He fled to Spain in 2022 using falsified Colombian documents; his co-leader brother Alex Iván Ronco was detained.
Read at english.elpais.com
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