What happened at Jackson Rodríguez’s home? Ecuadorian soccer star's family targeted in shocking incident

In the latest news, Ecuadorian soccer player Jackson Rodríguez's family has been kidnapped from their home. The incident took place early in the morning on Wednesday, when masked men broke into his house in Guayaquil and took his wife and five-year-old child.

This news comes in light of increased gang-related abductions that have rocked the country. A state of emergency was declared in nine provinces across Ecuador over the past week, due to the rampant gang-related violence.

More about the incident, as news of Jackson Rodríguez's family being kidnapped emerges

Jackson Rodríguez, who plays for the National Ecuadorian Football team and Club Sport Emelec, was sleeping in his home in Guayaquil, one of the worst-affected areas related to gang-related violence, when the incident took place on 23 April.

According to reports, the police investigating the case said the incident occurred around 3:00 am. According to the police chief, Édison Rodríguez, revealed in a statement that the vehicle used in the abduction has been identified. He said:

"The individuals were traveling in a gray-colored double-cab pickup truck.”

According to People Magazine, the soccer star was woken by noises coming from the ground floor of his house. He heard the intruders questioning his wife, asking if she was the player's spouse, prompting the player to hide under the bed. Since the intruders failed to find him, they took his wife and five-year-old child with them.

This is not the first case where a soccer player has been targeted. Last December, soccer player Pedro Perlaza was abducted while leaving his house and was later held in a rural area near Colombia. He was eventually rescued by the police a few days later, according to Reuters.

The city where Jackson Rodríguez lives is part of the Guayas province, which, according to CBS News, is at the centre of drug and organized crime. Over the past three years, the crime rate in the country has risen exponentially. Since the beginning of this year, 742 violent deaths related to gang violence have been reported in Guayaquil, according to the Daily Mail.

Daniel Noboa, who has been reelected as the President of Ecuador, has sworn to fight organized crime and protect the country's citizens.

According to the official X account of the Ecuadorian Police, the family has now been successfully rescued.

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"After the effective investigative and operational work of the Ecuadorian Police, we released Andrexy O. and his son, relatives of Jackson Rodríguez, in El Fortín #Guayaquil , who were kidnapped in Mucho Lote and whose perpetrators demanded a large sum of money for their release. 📌 They are safe and sound. Developing news..." the translation of the X post reads.

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