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Officials said that after a dispute between the two groups, deadly violence broke out involving gunfire, knives and explosions.
Ecuadorian officials said at least 30 prisoners were killed and 47 others were injured. Riots between rival gangs Inside the prison, this is the latest in a series of deadly conflicts in the overpopulated and understaffed prison system of the Andean country.
On the second day of riots in Guayaquil prison, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of the capital Quito, National Police Commander Fausto Buenano announced a higher death toll on Wednesday.
Buenano told reporters that the police and military operations regained control of the prison five hours later and seized several weapons.
Buenano said: “After controlling and responding to the incident in the prison yesterday, we counted 30 deaths and 47 injured prisoners, and the Ministry of Health personnel dealt with them immediately.”
“The national police entered and controlled the first, third and fifth wards with more deaths.”
He added that the police responded with “non-lethal weapons” during the operation, during which they were attacked by prisoners armed with pistols, revolvers and rifles.
Ecuador’s prison system has become a battleground between rival gangs associated with Mexican drug cartels [Angel DeJesus/AP Photo]Ecuador is located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s leading cocaine producers, and is an important transit point for the delivery of drugs to the United States and Europe.
Between January and August this year, the Ecuadorian authorities seized approximately 116 tons of drugs, mainly cocaine, compared to 128 tons in 2020.
Ecuador’s prison system has become a battleground between prisoners associated with Mexican drug gangs (mainly new-generation cartels in Sinaloa and Jalisco).
Officials said the recent violence involving gunfire, knives and explosions was caused by a dispute between the “Los Lobos” and “Los Choneros” prison gangs.
Television footage showed that in the presence of heavy smoke and explosions of guns and explosives, prisoners opened fire from the prison windows.
The Guayas state government, where Guayaquil is located, posted pictures on its Twitter account, showing six chefs being evacuated from the side of the prison.
Last week, the police confiscated two pistols, a revolver, about 500 rounds of ammunition, a grenade, several knives, two explosives, and homemade explosives in a prison in the city.
Prison authorities said that two weeks ago, Guayaquil’s No. 4 prison was attacked by drones as part of the “inter-cartel war”. The attack caused no casualties.
Fernando Carrion, an Ecuadorian security expert, said: “Since 2010, there has been a prison crisis, with an average of 25 homicides per year, but from 2017 to the peak of this year, this crisis has accelerated significantly. There must have been more than 160 homicides.” Agence France-Presse news agency.
Ecuador’s prison system faces overpopulation and chronic shortages [Angel DeJesus/AP Photo]In July, President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency in the Ecuadorian prison system, following several violent incidents, and more than 120 prisoners have been killed so far this year.
In February, 79 prisoners killed at the same time Riots in three prisons domestic.
In July, Another 27 prisoners They were killed in Litoral Prison, and in September, a prison center was attacked by drones, but no casualties were reported.
Ecuador’s prison system has 65 facilities that can accommodate approximately 30,000 prisoners—but the country’s actual prison population is 39,000, and the system faces chronic staff shortages.
The country’s human rights monitor stated that there were 103 murders in prisons in 2020, and corruption allowed prisoners to carry weapons and ammunition.
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