Ecuador Prison Riot Leaves More Than 40 Dead; Over 100 Inmates Recaptured

A prison riot in Ecuador has left at least 43 dead and 13 injured at a maximum security facility in northern Ecuador.

CNN World News reported that the riot was started between two rival gangs inside the prison.

Ecuadorian National Police commander General Fausto Salinas noted during a press conference that the death toll from the incident is likely to increase with those injured being taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Social Bellavista rehabilitation center in Santo Domingo de Los Tsachillas reported the riot, with some of the inmates managing to break out of the prison.

Salinas noted that at least 112 inmates have been recaptured.

Ecuador's interior ministry said that the authorities have regained control of the Social Bellavista rehabilitation center.

Meanwhile, one police officer was injured in the operation to regain control of the prison.

Ecuadorian Police noted that prison guards have confiscated four rifles, four pistols, and four grenades from inmates during the operations.

Ecuador Prison Riot

Salinas said that the riot was triggered by a brawl involving the transfer of an inmate with an alias Anchundia into the prison.

He added that the said prisoner had been one of the ringleaders who had caused a previous prison riot in April, according to a BBC News report.

President Guillermo Lasso sent his condolences to the families of those who died due to the prison riot.

Lasso said that it was an "unfortunate result of gang violence."

Ecuador's Interior Minister, Patricio Carrillo, noted in a tweet that Ecuador's government is working to overcome the problems of the prison system.

However, Carillo added that, it is "complex" to find quick solutions in an environment of violence.

The Guardian reported that the presence of a gang leader from another prison generated conflict and violence, according to Salinas.

Since February 2021, around 400 inmates have been killed in six different riots. In September 2021, 119 inmates were killed at a prison in Guayaquil in western Ecuador. Less than two months later, at least 68 prisoners died in fresh fighting at the same prison.

Prison Violence in Ecuador

Analysts noted that the jump in prison violence started when local criminal gangs started vying to work with the rival Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels.

Ecuadorean authorities have seized 85 tons of cocaine, which is twice the amount seized the year before in the first four months of the year.

Ecuador has been a strategic smuggling route due to its long Pacific coastline and large shipping and fishing fleets.

A 60-day state of emergency was declared in three western provinces in Ecuador last month. The provinces were Guayas, Manabi, and Esmeraldas. However, Bellavista Prison was not included.

The state of emergency was put into effect as a response to the violence.

Guillermo Lasso has pinned the blame on drug trafficking for Ecuador's crime problems, with powerful Mexican drug cartels believed to operate through local gangs.

Ecuador's president has vowed to increase the police force and pardon inmates who were convicted of minor crimes instead of overfilling prisons.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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