Manta isn't as large or well known as Quito and Guayaquil, but it is a major city by Ecuadorian standards.
From what I've heard, drug cartels or gangs (or whatever the term is) have pretty much overrun much of Ecuador, and the current President has lip-flapped some while doing little. Villavicencio was promising to take action, and apparently the drug lords believed he was serious.