Ecuador Prison Riot Leaves Up to 17 Dead

A violent clash at Esmeraldas prison in coastal Ecuador left authorities reporting between 10 and 17 dead, a toll they said may rise as bodies are recovered and investigations continue. Police say the attack was ordered by the Los Tiguerones gang to eliminate members of rival groups Los Lobos and Los Choneros and unaffiliated inmates, and that inmates ambushed guards and stole cell keys to reach victims. The riot came days after a separate deadly incident at Machala prison that killed more than a dozen people, underscoring a recent surge in prison massacres. Ecuador’s overcrowded prisons have seen roughly 500 inmate killings since 2021 and are battlegrounds for organized crime, with some gangs designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. The government, which has placed prisons under military control and declared a state of “internal armed conflict,” has launched security operations inside the facility as families waited outside and investigators documented gruesome scenes.