Militants killed the head of the Ecuadorian prison, where riots broke out



Ecuadorian caretaker a prison where bloody riots take place The one who broke out two weeks ago was killed by gunmen on Thursday, the federal prisons agency said.

Retired police colonel Santiago Losa took over as governor of Pichincha 1 prison in Quito on 9 November.

But just over a week later, on November 18, riots erupted after the gang leaders were transferred to another facility, killing ten prisoners in a fight.

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Vine “was the victim of a fatal attack” on a side road in Quito, federal prison agency SNAI said in a statement.

Witnesses said Loza was driving his car when men on a motorcycle shot him, police said.

Since February 2021, more than a dozen gang riots have broken out in overcrowded prisons in Ecuador, resulting in the death of about 400 prisoners.

SNAI has pledged to strengthen its prisons and address overcrowding.

“We reject this cowardly act in the midst of a transformation process that we have undertaken as an institution for the security and control of detention centers,” the SNAI added.

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On Monday, Ecuadorian authorities announced the deployment of 1,461 new prison guards, joining the current team of about 1,500 officers, who at times vastly outnumbered the country of 32,000 prisoners.

Although Ecuador has no major drug production or cartels, it has become an important conduit for cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru due to looser controls at its main port and a dollar-denominated economy.

Mexican, Colombian and Balkan mafias are involved in the trade, pitting local gangs against each other, fighting for alliances and control. drug smuggling routes.