An Ecuadorian soccer star who was a hostage for three days was rescued after a firefight between the police and his captors in the jungle near Colombia.
Pedro Perlaza, 33, a defender with the high-flying club Delfin, was freed along with another person, police announced Wednesday night in social media post.
He had been missing since Sunday night.
In a social media post On Thursday, police said three suspects had been arrested and had demanded $60,000 in exchange for their release.
A video released by police on Thursday showed the two kidnapped men – both barefoot – thanking their rescuers.
“They were treated badly, but they are alive,” Diego Velastegui, police chief in the northwestern port city of Esmeraldas, told reporters.
Police were “met with bullets from the criminals” near the coastal town of Atacames, he said. The abductors escaped after the fire officersin returns. Velastegui said several of the kidnappers were wounded.
Perlaza was reportedly held in a wooden hut built on stilts, tucked away in a wooded area. aerial photo released by authorities.
Agustin Marcarian / AP
Perlaza was capped three times by the national team in 2020 and has spent his entire career with Ecuadoran clubs.
He was crowned champion in 2019 by Delfin and in 2022 by Aucas.
The problem comes just a few weeks after his fellow Ecuadorian soccer player Marco Angulo died from injuries sustained in a car accident.
In recent years, Ecuador has faced a wave of violence related to drug trafficking.
The country's suicide rate has increased from six per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to 47 in 2023.
Kidnapping, extortion, murder and prison killings are now common, in a country that was once considered an island of peace in Latin America.
In September, the director of Ecuador's largest prison, Maria Daniela Icaza kill in an armed attack. The country's pensioners have been under military rule since January, when President Daniel Noboa announced his a state of “internal armed conflict” following a brutal wave of violence, fueled by the impeachment of a powerful crime boss.
In January, gunmen clashed and opened fire in a TV studio and bands threatened to randomly execute civilians and security forces. A prosecutor was investigating the attack later burn dead.
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