September 13, 2024, 9:02 AM
September 13, 2024, 9:02 AM
Maria Daniela Icaza, the director of the largest prison in Ecuador, scene of rebellions and bloody massacres among prisoners, was killed on Thursday in an armed attack on the streets of Guayaquil. It is the second death of a prison official in ten days.
“The director in charge of the Guayas Men’s Deprivation of Liberty Center “N°1, María Daniela Icaza, died as a victim of an armed attack,” the agency in charge of prisons (SNAI) informed the press.
Guayaquil is one of the most violent cities in Ecuador due to the onslaught of drug gangs fighting over drug trafficking routes.
The official was attacked on a road leading to the Daule area, in northern Guayaquil, and died shortly after, while being transferred to the hospital, according to SNAI.
On September 3rd, Alex Guevara, director of the prison in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos (northeast and bordering Colombia), died in an armed attack that left two other prison officials injured.
Two weeks ago, two prison officers in Guayaquil were also murdered on their way to work.
The prison governing body said that during the attack on Thursday “an SNAI official who was accompanying the director” of the prison, known as the Litoral Penitentiary, was also injured.
“We categorically reject any act of violence and reaffirm our commitment to guarantee the safety of all employees of this institution,” he added.
The Litoral Penitentiary, which houses more than 6,500 inmates, is part of a large complex with five prisons. It has been one of the scenes of bloody clashes between drug traffickers, which have left more than 460 prisoners dead since 2021.
Ecuadorian prisons, which have become centers of criminal operations, have been under military control since January, when President Daniel Noboa declared the country in an internal armed conflict in the face of an onslaught by drug traffickers.
The president then deployed the military onto the streets to neutralize around twenty organizations that he called terrorists and belligerents.
Despite the military presence in the prisons, last week the so-called security bloc foiled an attack using a drone carrying a bomb. The attack was aimed at the maximum security prison of La Roca, also located in Guayaquil (southwest), where criminal gang leaders and politicians are held.
In 2023, Ecuador recorded a record of 47 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to the rate of 6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants it had in 2018.
The Noboa government claims that homicides have been reduced thanks to its offensive against organized crime.
Between January and September of this year, 4,236 murders have been reported, while in the same period in 2023 there were 5,112, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
