After an inspection, uniformed officers found two other bodies, “so there are ten confirmed deaths” in the Pichincha 1 prison, the SNAI said on its WhatsApp communication channel.
In principle, the entity had reported eight deaths, while the Prosecutor’s Office reported nine deaths in the prison, also known as El Inca prison.
“None of them have fire or knife wounds, but apparently the cause of death would be strangulation,” Police General Víctor Herrera told the press.
Guarded by the military, legal medicine cars entered the prison to remove the bodies of the inmates killed in the second massacre reported in Quito, a city that until recently had escaped violence within the prisons.
Since February 2021, there have been a dozen prison massacres with a balance of nearly 400 prisoners dead in the once-pacific Ecuador. The worst massacres, with decapitated, dismembered and cremated bodies, have been recorded in Guayaquil’s prison complexes.
The latest massacre occurred in the Quito prison on November 8, when five inmates were killed.
Herrera, in charge of security in Quito, pointed out that the episode of violence this Friday was “controlled.”
– The trigger –
The transfer to a maximum security prison of Jonathan Bermúdez, leader of the Los Lobos gang and allegedly responsible for the massacre in the Pichincha 1 prison, was the spark that triggered the clash this Friday.
“Members of this criminal organization took violent reprisals” for the relocation of Bermúdez to the La Roca prison, located in the port of Guayaquil (southwest), the SNAI explained in a statement.
Three other prisoners considered to be the “presumed masterminds” of the attacks this afternoon were also relocated. Without specifying which gang they belong to, the agency indicated that aliases “Sargento”, “Junior” and “Ant” were taken to La Roca.
Previous transfers of prisoners fueled the massacres, such as the one that occurred last May in the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas prison. On that occasion, the relocation of a leader of a rival gang of Los Lobos unleashed a massacre that left 44 dead.
In early November, the government ordered the transfer of 2,400 inmates to other prisons or other cells, sparking the ire of criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking that set off car bombs at gas stations and police stations and led to shootouts.
Eight people, including five uniformed officers, died during the attacks in Guayaquil. This port, a strategic place for the exit of drugs to the United States and Europe, is the most punished by the drug mafia.
– “Without truce” –
On Friday, an inmate identified as Anchundia, leader of the R7 gang, was also transferred to La Roca, whom the authorities accuse of being responsible for disturbances in the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas prison (center).
“Let the mafias and leaders not be confused: this will be the same fate for those who continue with their attempts to break the peace of Ecuadorians,” President Guillermo Lasso warned early on Twitter, when announcing the transfers.
In his message, the president included photographs of inmates with their hands tied or with their hands behind their heads and lying face down in prison courtyards and corridors.
Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, the largest cocaine producers, faces an increase in violence linked to drug gangs, as well as drug seizures.
In 2021, the country seized a record 210 tons and so far this year seizures have reached 170 tons.
To contain the impact of drug violence, Lasso declared a state of emergency and a curfew in the coastal provinces of Guayas (whose capital is Guayaquil), Esmeraldas (bordering Colombia) and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.
