Clashes between rival gangs at a prison in Machala, Ecuador, have resulted in the deaths of 13 inmates and one prison guard. An additional 14 individuals, including two police officers, sustained injuries during the altercations. Reports indicate that residents in the area heard explosions and gunfire early on Monday morning.
According to Police Chief William Calle, an unspecified number of prisoners escaped amidst the chaos, though 13 have since been recaptured. The violence is reportedly linked to a criminal gang known as Los Lobos Box, which has not yet responded to inquiries about the incident. Preliminary reports suggest that security personnel were responding to an alert from inmates when they were taken hostage, resulting in the death of a guard.
Members of Los Lobos Box are believed to have attacked rival inmates in a separate wing of the prison. Some inmates escaped through a hole in the prison’s perimeter wall, reportedly created by an explosive device, although the method of smuggling the explosives into the facility remains unclear.
Security forces regained control of the prison after deploying around 200 police and soldiers. The facility’s location in the center of Machala has led to long-standing calls from residents for its relocation. Ecuador has been grappling with escalating gang violence, transitioning from one of the safest countries in Latin America to one of the most dangerous. Prison gangs have increasingly influenced criminal activities from within, forming partnerships with Mexican drug cartels to manage cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador.
Earlier this month, the United States designated the gangs Los Lobos and Los Choneros as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), citing their use of violence to control drug trafficking networks in the region.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gkwdzld23o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss