The search for the Ecuadorian soccer player Pedro Pablo Perlaza, who played until last September for Delfín, in Ecuador’s first division, and has been missing since Sunday, continues this Wednesday after rumors spread on Tuesday about a possible kidnapping of the player.
So far, Perlaza’s family has not received any communication to demand money for the ransom, according to the mayor of Esmeraldas. Vicko Villacisduring an interview with the digital program Visionarias.
The police investigation
Villacís specified that, according to Police investigations, the disappearance of Perlaza It did not occur in the center of the city of Esmeraldas, but in the town of Atacames, belonging to the same province of Esmeraldas, located on the northern coast of Ecuador. border with Colombia.
“Police investigations say that he was invited to eat in the Atacames canton and after that, absolutely nothing is known,” said Villacís.
Disappeared with a friend
The footballer disappeared along with a friend of his identified as Juan Carlos Morales and popularly known in the area as ‘Loco Abreu’.
The mayor also pointed out that in the vicinity of Atacames Two bodies were found that have not yet been identified by the authorities.
His career
Perlaza, 33 years old, He has been without a team since he played last season at Delfín, a club to which he had returned this year after triumphing there in 2019 by winning the Ecuadorian Pro League, a success that he repeated in 2021 with Liga de Quito and in 2022 with Aucas.
He also wore the shirts of Independiente del Valle (2022) and Barcelona (2023), from Guayaquil, without much success, in addition to having a short-lived stint with the Ecuadorian team in 2022.
Crime wave in Ecuador
Perlaza’s disappearance occurs at a time of rising criminal violence in Ecuadorwhich in 2023 was the country in Latin America with the highest homicide rate, with a rate of 47.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, eight times higher than in 2016.
From the beginning of 2024, the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, raised the fight against organized crime to the category of “internal armed conflict”, thereby classifying organized crime gangs as terrorist groups.
Also this year it has issued about a dozen states of exception with actions such as the militarization of prisons, controlled by criminal structures, to try to stop the violence.
Read also
Although the Government has reported a 17% decrease in the number of homicides nationwide, compared to the explosion of murders that occurred in 2023, complaints of extortion, kidnappings and murders continue to be filed daily in the country.
