After the escape of José Adolfo Macías, the leader of the most dangerous criminal gang in Ecuador, from his prison and the outbreak of riots and rebellion in a number of prisons, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency throughout the country.

President Noboa said in a post on Instagram: "I have just signed a decree declaring a state of emergency to provide full political and legal support to the armed forces in their operations," according to Agence France-Presse.

The state of emergency allows the government to use the military to maintain public order throughout the country, including inside prisons.

The state of emergency was accompanied by the imposition of a night curfew from 11 PM to 5 AM local time.

A spokesman for the Ecuadorian government suggested on Monday that the leader of the powerful Los Choneros gang may have escaped from prison, following the authorities' announcement that they had lost track of José Adolfo Macías, nicknamed "Vito," and launched a search operation for him.

The government spokesman Roberto Izurieta said the "most likely" scenario is that "Vito," 44 years old, escaped hours before a police operation in the prison, and "the largest number of forces have been deployed to find this very dangerous prisoner."

Izurieta expressed regret over the "level of spread" of criminal groups, and the "failure" of the prison system in Ecuador.

Ecuador, located between the two largest cocaine-producing countries, Colombia and Peru, has witnessed violence in recent years, with competing gangs linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels seeking to extend their control