September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot

Last updated

September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot
Date28 September 2021 (2021-09-28)
Venue Litoral Penitentiary
Location Guayaquil
Coordinates 02°03′09″S79°56′42″W / 2.05250°S 79.94500°W / -2.05250; -79.94500
Type Riot
CauseGang rivalry
MotiveTo gain criminal leadership
ParticipantsPrison inmates
Deaths123 inmates

The September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot occurred at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador on 28 September 2021. At least 123 inmates were killed and several others were injured in the riot that took place in that prison. It was the deadliest prison fight in the country's history [1] [2] and one of the deadliest in Latin American history. [3]

Contents

Background

The confrontations between the criminal gangs began after the death of Jorge Luis Zambrano, leader of the Los Choneros gang, one of the largest and oldest criminal organizations in the country. Zambrano was assassinated on 28 December 2020 and as a result of the incident, several groups that were previously part of the gang split off and began to attack their former leaders. These groups would become Los Chone Killers, Los Lobos, Los Pipos and Los Tiguerones. [3]

According to the news portal Primicias, on 24 September, during a birthday party held for a gang leader known as “Junior”, members of Los Choneros allegedly stated that they were the most powerful gang within the prison. This heightened tensions between them and rival gangs, especially Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones, which would start the riot four days later. [4]

Riot

The clashes between the gangs began around 9:30 in the morning of 28 September, when the first detonations of explosives were heard inside the jail and it was decided to evacuate the administrative personnel working there. Inmates from pavilions 8 and 9 entered pavilion 5 and attacked their rivals, resulting in around 35 deaths and 48 injuries. [5] Members of the Los Tiguerones gang also attacked inmates in pavilions 1 and 3 and beheaded five of them. [4]

As a consequence of the first confrontation that occurred in the morning, another retaliatory attack took place. [6]

Response

On September 30, around 900 police and military personnel entered the Litoral Penitentiary to pacify the prison, in response to President Guillermo Lasso's announcement the day before that some pavilions still did not have a police presence. During the entry, the security forces found improvised checkpoints built by the inmates and holes in several walls used by the attackers to enter other pavilions in search of victims. [7]

At least five of the dead were found to have been beheaded, officials said. [8]

In the wake of the clashes on 28 September, Ecuador plans to pardon up to 2,000 inmates. [9]

Lasso declared a state of emergency. He has been trying to control the prison system, with the prison violence completely in the hands of criminal gangs. The state has lost control and now has a state of emergency. [10]

November 2021 riots at Litoral Penitentiary

Another riot occurred at Litoral Penitentiary on 13 November 2021. Reuters and Swissinfo reported 68 prisoners were killed [11] and over a dozen were seriously injured during this riot. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenín Moreno</span> President of Ecuador from 2017 to 2021

Lenín Boltaire Moreno Garcés is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the 46th president of Ecuador, from 2017 to 2021. Moreno was vice president from 2007 to 2013, serving under President Rafael Correa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apodaca prison riot</span> 2012 riot in Nuevo León, Mexico

The Apodaca prison riot occurred on 19 February 2012 at a prison in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Mexico City officials stated that at least 44 people were killed, with another twelve injured. The Blog del Narco, a blog that documents events and people of the Mexican Drug War anonymously, reported that the actual (unofficial) death toll may be more than 70 people. The fight was between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, two drug cartels that operate in northeastern Mexico. The governor of Nuevo León, Rodrigo Medina, mentioned on 20 February 2012 that 30 inmates escaped from the prison during the riot. Four days later, however, the new figures of the fugitives went down to 29. On 16 March 2012, the Attorney General's Office of Nuevo León confirmed that 37 prisoners had actually escaped on the day of the massacre. One of the fugitives, Óscar Manuel Bernal alias La Araña, is considered by the Mexican authorities to be "extremely dangerous," and is believed to be the leader of Los Zetas in the municipality of Monterrey. Some other fugitives were also leaders in the organization.

A riot at the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo occurred on 16 October 2016 in Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil.

Events in the year 2021 in Ecuador.

On 23 February 2021, 79 inmates were killed and several others were injured in riots that took place simultaneously in four prisons in Ecuador. Authorities gave gang rivalry in an overcrowded prison system as the cause. The violence happened in prisons located in the Guayas, Azuay, and Cotopaxi provinces, which contain nearly 70% of the total prison population in the country.

The November 2021 Guayaquil prison riot occurred on 13 November 2021 at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador, killing at least 68 people and injuring 25.

The Litoral Penitentiary, known officially as Center for Social Rehabilitation of Men No. 1 of Guayaquil is the largest prison in Ecuador. It is located 16.5 km (10.3 mi) from Vía a Daule, on the outskirts of Guayaquil. The prison has twelve pavilions and has a capacity of five thousand inmates, although by July 2021 it housed around ten thousand. It is part of the Guayas Penitentiary Complex, which also includes the Guayas Regional Rehabilitation Center, La Roca Prison and the Provisional Detention Center.

In 2022, at least 77 inmates were killed during prison riots in Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecuadorian security crisis</span> Increased conflict of criminal organizations

Since around 2018, Ecuador has suffered a security crisis resulting from conflicts between criminal organizations with connections to drug trafficking. In recent years, coca leaf production has risen in neighboring Colombia and Peru, with both cocaine and coca base entering Ecuador by land and leaving by sea. The border with Colombia became more porous after Rafael Correa in 2009 declined to renew the US military's lease at Eloy Alfaro Military Base in Manta and stopped working with the United States' Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Following Correa was Lenín Moreno, who cut funding for the prison system and the National Police of Ecuador.

Los Choneros is an organized crime syndicate and drug cartel based in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, with a notable presence along much of the country's coastline. The gang is known for its involvement in organized crime, including drug trafficking, extortion, and robbery. Many of its members have been on the Ecuadorian most wanted list and its original leaders have been imprisoned or killed. Their main business is moving cocaine to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 in Ecuador</span> List of events

Events in the year 2023 in Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Fernando Villavicencio</span> Assassination of an Ecuadorean presidential candidate

On 9 August 2023, eleven days before the 2023 Ecuadorian general election, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated after leaving a campaign rally in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. One assailant was killed during the attack. Several bystanders, including security personnel and a legislative candidate, were injured.

Los Lobos is an Ecuadorian criminal organization that specializes in drug trafficking and working as hitmen for international partners or allied groups. Los Lobos began as a splinter group of the Los Choneros drug cartel, but broke away in 2020 after the death of Jorge Luis Zambrano, along with Los Chone Killers and Los Tiguerones. The group has over 8,000 members and mainly operates in cities of Latacunga, Cuenca, and Machala, and also in the province of Pastaza. Los Lobos participates in the cocaine exports in Ecuador.

Events in the year 2024 in Ecuador.

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, also known by the alias Fito, is an Ecuadorian drug trafficker and the current leader of Los Choneros cartel. He assumed leadership in 2020 following the murder of his predecessor Jorge Luis Zambrano. He had been incarcerated since 2011, having previously escaped prison and lived as a fugitive in 2013. In January 2024, he escaped from prison again, prompting a state of emergency to be called in Ecuador for sixty days and initiating the 2024 conflict in Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Ecuadorian conflict</span> Conflict with organized crime groups

On 9 January 2024, an armed conflict broke out in Ecuador involving the country's government against several organized crime groups, most notably the Los Choneros cartel.

Los Chone Killers, or Chone Killers, are an Ecuadorian criminal and terrorist organization known for their drug trafficking activities, assassinations, and other crimes. The group split from Los Choneros in 2020, along with Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones following the murder of Los Choneros leader Jorge Luis Zambrano. The group mainly operates in Guayas Province, in particular the city of Durán.

Los Tiguerones are an Ecuadorian crime syndicate that specializes in drug trafficking activities, assassinations, and other crimes. The group split from Los Choneros in 2020, along with Los Lobos and Los Chone Killers following the murder of Los Choneros leader Jorge Luis Zambrano. The group is based in Esmeraldas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War on drugs in Ecuador</span> Internal conflict in Ecuador

The Ecuadorian Drug War is an internal conflict in Ecuador waged by the Ecuadorian security forces against criminal groups since the beginning of 2018. The conflict is divided into two parts, the first is the Ecuadorian government against satellite groups of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel, and the second is the confrontation between said satellite groups for dominance and hegemony.

References

  1. ↑ "Ecuador jail: Death toll in Guayaquil prison fight passes 100". BBC. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "(En vivo) Presidente Guillermo Lasso ofrece rueda de prensa sobre situación carcelaria tras masacre en Penitenciaría del Litoral". El Universo (in Spanish). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 Loaiza, Yalilé (30 September 2021). "Choneros vs Lobos: cómo son las dos megabandas con 20.000 presos que están provocando un baño de sangre en las cárceles de Ecuador". Infobae. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 "'Alarde' de Los Choneros desató masacre en Penitenciaría de Guayaquil". Primicias. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "El número de presos asesinados en Guayaquil asciende a 26, Policía dice que hay decapitados". El Comercio. 28 September 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Paredes, Norberto (30 September 2021). "Ecuador: 4 claves que explican qué hay detrás de la masacre carcelaria que dejó al menos 116 muertos, la peor de la historia del país". BBC . Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "Solo 20 de los 118 reos asesinados han sido identificados; se han entregado 4 cuerpos a las familias". El Universo . 30 September 2021. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "62 Inmates Dead In Ecuador Prison Riots". NDTV . Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Ecuador to pardon thousands after 118 die in worst-ever prison riot". Reuters . 2 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "Ecuador declares prison emergency after scores killed in gang battle". NBC News .
  11. ↑ "Ecuador prison violence leaves at least 68 dead, dozens injured".
  12. ↑ "Dozens of inmates killed in latest Ecuador prison clashes".
  13. ↑ Valencia, Alexandra; Garcia, Yury (14 November 2021). "Ecuador prison violence leaves at least 68 dead, dozens injured". Reuters . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "Dozens of inmates killed in latest Ecuador prison clashes". Al Jazeera . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Dozens of inmates die in a battle between prison gangs in Ecuador". NPR . Associated Press. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "Scores of inmates killed in latest Ecuador prison riot". France 24 . 13 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.