In the most recent incident of prison violence in the South American nation of Ecuador, the SNAI prison agency reported on Saturday that at least 12 inmates were killed in jail due to a violent confrontation between rival gangs.
The fight occurred on a Friday at one of the most hazardous institutions in the country, known as La Penitenciara and located in the city of Guayaquil.
Since 2021, hundreds of inmates have been killed in prison uprisings in Ecuador, which the government attributes to territory conflicts between competing drug organizations.
SNAI informed reporters, “Through the use of technology, it was determined that 12 people died.”
Additionally, the institution stated that the police and prosecutor’s office are currently at the facility to identify the deceased inmate.
The violence in Ecuador’s prisons is the result of years of official mismanagement of the correctional system, according to a United Nations committee that visited the country’s prisons last year.
The nation of Ecuador is a transit point for cocaine bound for Europe and the United States, and its president, a conservative former financier who denies corruption allegations, has failed to address the region’s increasing violence.
In response to rising insecurity in the South American nation, the Ecuadorian government legalized the civilian use of weapons and pepper spray earlier this month.
Friday’s conflict was sparked by the murder of three female prison officials outside the Guayaquil penitentiary. This week, SNAI reported that six La Penitenciara inmates were found hanged in one of the prison’s dormitories.
In an effort to reduce the level of violence, Lasso has frequently declared emergencies and increased security within the prison system.
