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1/1/2025 6:24

An judge in Ecuador on Tuesday ordered 16 members of the country's air force be detained while prosecutors investigate their alleged participation in the forced disappearance of four minors, the attorney general's office said.



The children, boys between 11 and 15 years old, disappeared on Dec. 8 from a neighborhood in the coastal city of Guayaquil.



The case has sparked outrage throughout Ecuador with protests held in capital Quito and elsewhere to demand answers over the whereabouts of the four boys.



"We won't accept it, we are angry and indignant because the government and the authorities have not said anything," said retiree Fernando Bustamante, 70, who stood with other protesters outside the court in Guayaquil where the judge made the ruling.



The boys disappeared amid a government crackdown on crime, with President Daniel Noboa designating some 22 criminal gangs as terrorist organizations and declaring a series of states of emergency, allowing members of the military to patrol streets and assist law enforcement efforts.