Ecuador Prison Riot Kills at Least 15; Nation's Prisons Agency Said Prisoners Fought With Guns, Knives

A recent Ecuador prison riot left at least 15 prisoners dead and 20 injured in Cotopaxi No 1 jail in Latacunga, Monday, a spokesperson for SNAI confirmed. SNAI Ecuador's agency that manages prisons, according to an Aljazeera News report.

Dozens of soldiers arrived at the Ecuador prison facility to reinforce security while the administrative staff was evacuated from inside the complex.

Officials said that authorities are working on identifying the bodies while the governor of Cotopaxi province, Oswaldo Coronel, told reporters that security had been restored.

Coronel noted that 14 of the 20 injured prisoners had been taken to a hospital.

Ecuador Prison Riots

SNAI said prisoners had fought with guns and knives before guards managed to regain control of the riot. BBC News reported that the violence started after a census of prisoners.

It is believed that the conflict between Ecuadorean gangs fighting for lucrative cocaine networks has been the root cause of riots.

The gang fights had also put a huge strain on the underfunded and overcrowded prison system. In September last year, the worst prison riot in Ecuador was reported in the port city of Guayaquil, wherein more than 120 inmates died.

A fight at the same prison facility erupted two months later and caused 65 deaths. It was reported that an alleged drug gang boss, Leandro Norero, was also killed in the clash.

The Washington Post reported that Norero, a.k.a. "El Patron," was also wanted on drug trafficking charges in Peru, where officials said that he managed to escape justice in mid-2020 by faking his own death amid the COVID-19 pandemic and flew to Ecuador.

Officials said that they could confirm his death but the rules stated that details of how he died had to be given only to his family.

Norero was arrested on money laundering charges. Confiscated from him were 42 gold bars, weapons, jewelry, and about $7 million in cash.

In May, a deadly prison riot erupted in Ecuador between rival drug gangs.

More than 200 police commandos had taken control of the maximum-security wing of the Santo Domingo de Los Tsachilas prison, as reported by The Guardian.

Interim minister Patricio Carillo told reporters that the majority of the victims had been killed "with bladed weapons."

The Ecuador prison riot in May has been the sixth occurrence since the start of 2021, which prompted the death toll to around 400 as violence continued to rise between drug trafficking gangs.

Ecuador's police chief, Fausto Salinas, said at the time that there was really a lot of cruelty, with it involving hand grenades, machine guns, revolvers, and ammunition found inside the jail.

Salinas said that what triggered the violence was the transfer of a gang leader from another prison, noting that the presence of that person "generated conflict and violence."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: WorldView: Deadly prison riot in Ecuador - from CBS News