The gunmen besieged the TC Television studio during a live broadcast in the coastal city of Guayaquil on Tuesday amid a wave of gang violence that has swept the country.
Video of the broadcast posted online shows people being taken hostage by gunmen brandishing weapons and explosives.
The National Police of Ecuador responded with specialized units who arrested more than a dozen of the suspects.
"The perpetrators will be brought to justice to be punished for the terrorist acts," Ecuador Police Chief Gen. César Augusto Zapata Correa said in a statement on X.
The operation was one of several being executed by security officers across the country as Noboa, Ecuador's newly inaugurated president, is seeking to squelch violence that has subsumed much of the country this week.
Noboa on Tuesday officially signed an executive decree declaring an "internal armed conflict" and identified some two dozen gangs as terrorist organizations.
He also mobilized the armed forces and police to carry out military operations "to neutralize these groups," his office said in a statement.
"The groups mentioned in the decree have become a military objective," Noboa's office said.
The national police department has since been inundating its social media accounts with reports of arrests, posting blurred pictures of suspects and arrays of weapons officers have confiscated.
A statement published early Wednesday says 70 people had been arrested and three police officers who were taken hostage amid the violence have been rescued during the operations.
"Nothing will stop us, nor will we bow down to terrorist actions," it said in a separate statement.
On Monday, Noboa had declared a 60-day state of emergency and a 11 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew after Adolfo "Fito" Macías, leader of the Los Choneros gang, escaped from prison over the weekend. Authorities also said riots erupted at various prisons.
"We are not going to negotiate with terrorists, nor will we rest until we return peace to all Ecuadorians," Noboa said.
"The time is over in which those convicted of drug trafficking, hitmen and organized crime dictated to the government in power what to do."
The Armed Forces of Ecuador has said that it is executing security operations "outside and inside the different detention centers in the country."
Streets all but empty in Ecuador as gang attacks sow terror
Quito (AFP) Jan 11, 2024 -
Walking fast, with their eyes alert and voices low, a few Ecuadorans flitted about fearfully Wednesday on city streets all but deserted amid an escalating conflict between the armed forces and violent drug gangs.
Since Monday, narco gunmen have kidnapped police and prison guards, opened fire in a TV studio during a live broadcast, set off explosions in public places in several cities, and threatened random executions.
In the capital Quito, where a heavy military presence has been deployed, 54-year-old shopkeeper Rocio Guzman says the terrifying sounds of a shootout near her businesses and a hospital Tuesday still resonated in her head.
"People closed their businesses and ran," she told AFP. She, too, closed up shop. "Everything was closed, by 8 pm there was nothing: no cars, no business."
In the port city of Guayaquil, hotels, offices and shops also shuttered their doors.
The few pedestrians around Wednesday were too afraid to talk to AFP, and in many areas of the city there were more police than merchants.
The small South American country has been plunged into crisis after years of growing control by transnational cartels who use its ports to ship cocaine to the United States and Europe.
The most recent explosion of violence was sparked by the discovery Sunday of the prison escape of Jose Adolfo Macias, a.k.a "Fito", leader of the country's main crime gang, called Los Choneros.
In response, President Daniel Noboa, who took office in November with promises to clamp down on Ecuador's spiraling problem of gang-related crime and violence, declared a nationwide curfew and state of emergency.
The criminal rejoinder was quick to follow, with riots in prisons, seven police officers kidnapped, dozens of prison guards held hostage and at least 14 people killed to date.
- 'A lot of fear' -
The usual hubbub in La Carolina park in Quito's financial district was on Wednesday replaced by an eery silence -- devoid of the athletes and footballers that are usually there from early morning.
Bakery owner Daniel Lituma, 30, said he opened his shop only because he needs to make a living.
"What gets us out right now is the need to keep working. There is a lot of fear," Lituma, whose bakery is near the heavily guarded seat of government, told AFP.
On Tuesday, he was shopping with his wife at a market when employees alerted him to looting in the vicinity of the bakery. With bus services suspended, he ran back to make sure his daughter was safe.
"It is overwhelming. You have to go out every day (to make money) but with a lot of fear, uncertainty," he said.
By Wednesday, buses were running again but fewer than usual, and less frequently.
In some places, fear gave way to solidarity as strangers joined up to walk together or offer each other rides.
- Report every hour -
School classes countrywide were taught online Wednesday, and many companies urged staff to work from home.
Quito medical supplies salesman Manuel Munoz said he opted to work a half day to return home before dark, and has agreed on a strategy with his parents to keep track of each other's movements.
"The plan is to report every hour" with a phone call or text message, he said.
Taxi driver Santiago Enriquez, 30, said he and his colleagues were also keeping tabs on each other's whereabouts.
He welcomed the presence of police and soldiers on the streets after Noboa gave orders to "neutralize" the violent gangs.
"They (the government) are going to act harder and that's what people want to feel safe," he said.
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