The family of Ecuadorian soccer player Jackson Rodriguez was rescued after being kidnapped from their home in the coastal city of Guayaquil, police authorities reported on Friday.
Rodriguez, 26, hid under his bed while his 24-year-old wife and five-year-old son were taken on Wednesday by four “hooded and heavily armed individuals” who forced their way into the home in the Mucho Lote neighborhood.
The wife and son received medical attention following their release and were safe, police commander Pablo Dávila said.
The kidnappers demanded $500,000 for the release of the wife and son but the family refused to pay, Dávila added. Rodriguez is a left back who plays for first division club Emelec.
After police operations late Thursday, officers located the pair in the popular neighborhood of “El Fortín” in the northwest part of the city. The area is considered one of the most dangerous, a place where 22 people were massacred in March.
Gustavo Garello/AP 
Guayaquil is 170 miles southwest of the capital, Quito.
The kidnapping occurred amid a state of emergency declared 10 days ago by the government in nine areas of the country, including the province of Guayas, to which Guayaquil belongs. The measure allows the mobilization of security forces in those territories to combat the operations of organized crime groups, which authorities blame for the wave of violence.
Ecuador is home to around 20 criminal gangs — with striking names like “Los Freddy Kruegers” and “The Peaky Blinders” — involved in trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.
Insecurity and crime have plagued Ecuador for four years, with an increase in the first few months of the year, according to the government. From January to March, 2,345 violent deaths were reported, 742 of them in Guayaquil.
The port city is considered one of the most dangerous areas in the country. From those ports, illegal drug shipments are sent to Europe, Central America, and the United States, according to authorities.
Other athletes have been targeted in the past. In December, soccer player Pedro Perlaza, who played for Liga de Quito, was kidnapped in Esmeraldas, a city located about 115 miles northwest of Quito. He was rescued alive a few days later.
President Daniel Noboa, who was re-elected to a second term in elections earlier this month, has suggested U.S. special forces should be deployed to Ecuador to tackle drug violence and floated legal reforms to allow U.S. bases to operate in the country.
At least two high-profile Ecuadorian gang leaders targeted by the U.S. have made headlines this year. Earlier this month, the fugitive leader of “Los Cheronos” that relied on hitmen, bribes and military weapons to do business was indicted in New York City on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States. José Adolfo Macías Villamar — whose nickname is “Fito” — escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and is not in U.S. custody.
In 2024, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on “Los Choneros.”
Earlier this year, a leader of one of Ecuador’s biggest crime syndicates, Los Lobos, was arrested at his home in the coastal city of Portoviejo. Carlos D, widely known by his alias El Chino, was the second-in-command of Los Lobos and “considered a high-value target,” the armed forces said in a statement.
The U.S. last year declared Los Lobos to be the largest drug trafficking organization in Ecuador.