Ecuador’s ex president arrested for 2nd time

QUITO: Ecuador´s ex-president Abdala Bucaram was arrested on Wednesday for the second time in just over two months, the public prosecutor said, this time accused of links to organized crime. Bucaram was also briefly detained on June 3 as part of a corruption investigation into the sale of over-priced hospital supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, although he is actually suspected of the illegal trafficking of arms and munitions. The public prosecutor said the case also “might involve” Bucaram´s son Jacobo and four officials from the metropolitan transit agency in the capital Quito, one of whom was arrested alongside the former leader. The arrests are linked to an investigation begun in May after two Israelis were detained over the illegal sale of medical supplies in the midst of the health emergency.