QUITO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian police have captured the right-hand man of a criminal gang leader involved in a slew of murders in the region, said police on Thursday.
Rito Jayro R., alias Lanchero, was captured Wednesday in the northwestern province of Esmeraldas, according to local press.
Jayro is considered a high-level confidant of Walter "Guacho" Arizala, leader of the Oliver Sinisterra Front, a breakaway group of the disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that operates along the Ecuador-Colombia border.
The group, heavily linked to drug trafficking, is responsible for attacks and kidnappings that have claimed nine lives and injured 40 others since January this year.
Jayro was responsible for safely ferrying Arizala between Ecuador and Colombia via the region's river network, as well as controlling the movement of drugs into Central America, Police chief Juan Jaramillo said.
Investigations are underway to determine if he was involved in the Jan. 27 attack on a police headquarters in San Lorenzo, Ecuador, the official added.
A car bomb was used in the attack that left 28 policemen and civilians injured. The Ecuadorian government branded the attack an "act of terrorism linked to drug trafficking gangs."
The splinter group has also claimed responsibility for the recent kidnapping and murder of an Ecuadorian couple and a three-member reporting group from Ecuadorian daily El Comercio.
Ecuador and Colombia have jointly launched an operation to capture Arizala and are offering 230,000 U.S. dollars for information that leads to his arrest.
