Status: 13.11.2021 8:58 p.m.
At least 68 inmates were killed in renewed clashes between rival gangs in a prison in Ecuador. More than 100 inmates had already died in a riot in the same detention center in September.
At least 68 prisoners were killed in renewed violent clashes in a prison in Ecuador. In addition, at least 25 inmates were injured in the Guayas N1 detention center near the port city of Guayaquil, wrote the Ecuadorian public prosecutor’s office on Twitter.
According to the Ecuadorian newspaper “El Universo”, the police seized firearms and explosives. The Ecuadorian police had previously written on Twitter that there was a mission in the detention center to restore order and bring the prison under control. The police have “saved lives” through their intervention, said the governor of the province of Guayas, Pablo Arosemena.
118 dead in September uprising
The fighting between prisoners began on Friday. Residents of the prison said they heard gunshots and explosions for hours, the AP news agency reported. In September, fighting between rival gangs in the same prison resulted in at least 118 deaths; 79 inmates were injured at the time. It was the worst massacre in the Ecuadorian penal system to date.
A total of 21 people died in prison rioting in July. In February, 79 people were killed in violent clashes in several prisons.
Riots between rivals
In the chronically overcrowded Ecuadorian prisons, clashes occur again and again between members of rival gangs linked to Mexican drug cartels. With its location between the major drug producers Colombia and Peru, Ecuador is an important hub for drug smuggling to the USA and Europe.
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency in October to give the police more freedom in the fight against drug-related crime.