Ecuador is no longer spared from gang violence

This photo provided by Ecuadorian police shows an operation in Bellavista prison, in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ecuador on May 11, 2022. Illustrative image.

© AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Stuck between Colombia and Peru, the world's two main producers of cocaine, Ecuador has long presented itself as an "island of peace", immune to the violence affecting its neighbors.

That era is now over.

The country is plagued by the Mexican Sinaloa, Gulf and Zetas cartels, which have made Ecuador a disputed territory between mafia gangs.

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With our correspondent in Quito,

At least 30 criminal gangs are vying for control of drug trafficking in Ecuador, including its ports through which drugs are exported.

Ecuador is today the third country after Colombia and the United States where the most drugs are seized, 210 tons for example last year.

Other advantages for traffickers, the country is dollarized, the state weak and the justice system plagued by corruption.

Nearly 400 prisoners dead in one year

Disputes between cartels and criminal gangs have therefore caused an exponential increase in violence.

Last year, the homicide rate was 14 per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 6 in 2018. Assassinations by “sicarios” or contract killers are daily.

since last year in clashes between rival gangs vying for control of drug trafficking in prisons across the country.

“Mexicanization”

Allied with Mexican traffickers, local gangs like the Choneros, Lobos and Tiguerones are also on their way to becoming micro-cartels.

A phenomenon that translates into a “Mexicanization” of the country, which is no longer surprised to see

, decapitated heads used as a warning and growing threats against the police, customs officers, lawyers and journalists.

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