Days before 61 prisoners died, there was already talk of a new massacre, but there was also an alert signal that the authorities did not see.
Between Friday 12 and Saturday 13 November, 61 men died in the ‘Litoral Penitentiary‘due to a new slaughter prison in the country: the fourth in 2021. While the shootings began, there were inmates who made live broadcasts imploring help; Others sent messages to their families saying that there was no light, that the murderers were trying to enter the cells, that they did not know if they would survive.
These events were reactions to a massacre that lasted more than 14 hours and of which had already been heard days before, at which time there was warning signs that a prison system without a prison intelligence system ignored.
First sign: ‘Detained with weapons abroad’
On Friday morning (when the massacre began), the National Police arrested three men who were trying to bring weapons (two rifles) ammunition (370 cartridges) and explosives (five sticks of dynamite) to the ‘Litoral Penitentiary‘.
Alejandro Ruiz, urban planner and citizen security expert, indicates that these are not weapons that are entered so that someone in the inmate has what to defend himself with in the event of a ‘simple’ fight. “Because let’s be clear, to be in a jail there are those who even make weapons to do harm in case they have a fight,” he details.
But the intention to introduce explosives and high-range weapons is a clear sign that “something bigger and more dangerous is brewing.” This is the signal that should not be overlooked.
The problem – says the expert – is that prisons do not have a prison intelligence system. “If people linked to a criminal gang are found in the surroundings trying to smuggle weapons, an alert code must be set, identify their leaders and keep them under absolute surveillance. Here they are taken to Flagrancia for carrying weapons and there it remains. There is no one who questions beyond the obvious, “he explains.
In addition, the three men were inmates who managed to violate the security of the most dangerous prison in the country to receive weapons. «They come and go and they don’t escape because if you are the administrator, you should stay there. But look at the dangers for those who are around, “adds Ruiz.
Second sign: A pavilion without a leader
The slaughter was caused because one of the pavilions was left without its Leader: after the liberation of one of the members of the Tiguerones – one of the six gangs fighting for control of prisons. This was explained by Pablo Arosemena Marriott, governor of the province of Guayas.
«The context of this situation was that there was no leader of the band who has a presence in that pavilion because days ago, that leader had been released because he had served 60% of his sentence, “said Arosemena Marriott.
For Ruiz, again, a department of prison intelligence I would have anticipated that as a pavilion was without a ringleader, “other gangs would seek to subdue them, with brutality, which causes a total massacre ».
Third sign: if the prisoners know it, the guides too
An inmate who spoke to ‘The Associated Press’ said that days before there was already talk of a new attack. Lautaro Ojeda, security expert and university professor, says that if the inmates know about this, so do the prison guides, but that they are victims of extortion and others “are corrupt”; So no alerts are issued, there is no protocol in prisons to know how prisoners act before an attack, a riot. (AVV)
FACT:
The slaughter it took place in pavilion 2, which houses approximately 700 prisoners.
