The crisis worsened on March 26 with the kidnapping and murders of journalists [es] from El Comercio, who were covering a report on the events that were taking place in Mataje and its surroundings.

The report on the material damage was given by Police Colonel Richard Carolys, while the evaluation and actions at the scene included the participation of military personnel from the Ecuadorian Navy.

[7] 48 days after the attack in San Lorenzo, on Saturday, March 17, 2018, around 02:30 in the morning, another detonation was recorded near a naval checkpoint of the Ecuadorian Navy in the town of Borbón, in the Eloy Alfaro canton.

[12] After the operation, 20 homes were raided (18 in Esmeraldas, 2 in Guayas) and 5 people linked to Walter Patricio Arízala Vernaza (Alias Guacho) were arrested,[10] who was suspected of being responsible for the attack in San Lorenzo.

The first occurred in the town of El Pan, near the Colombian-Ecuadorian border, where Ecuadorian military personnel patrolling the area received an attack of gunfire coming from some homes.

[15] On that same day, at approximately 9:30 in the morning, a second incident was also recorded through a detonation of a homemade explosive in a patrol car belonging to the UPC Alto Tambo in the El Pan parish, in the San Lorenzo canton.

[16] On Tuesday, March 20, 2018, there was a detonation of an explosive device placed on the San Lorenzo-Mataje highway, where military vehicles with Army troops were passing with the aim of continuing with the operations to control the situation.

On April 3, the Colombian network RCN broadcast a video of the three kidnapped Ecuadorians, in which journalist Javier Ortega said:"Mr. President Lenín Moreno our lives are in your hands.

".The video also mentioned that the perpetrators of the kidnapping was the group called the Oliver Sinisterra Front, led by the Ecuadorian Alias Guacho, a dissident of the demobilized Colombian FARC guerillas.

[23][24] Likewise, as a result of these events, the Ecuadorian president ordered the suspension of the peace talks in Quito between the Colombian government and the ELN guerrilla that were taking place in this country, also withdrawing as guarantor of the process.

President Lenin Moreno had given a statement on Monday declaring a period of 10 days to surrender and Ecuador put a reward of US$100,000 and calling the kidnappers "cowards because they use human shields to want to blackmail the Ecuadorian people."