Ecuador prison riot: At least 68 dead in jail gang clash with drug ties
At least 68 people have been killed amid ongoing violence between rival gangs in an Ecuadorian prison, according to officials.
Clashes began on Friday at the Litoral Penitentiary in the city of Guayaquil, and police deployed inside the prison reportedly discovered guns and explosives.
The facility was the site last month of some of the country’s worst prison violence ever, when hundreds of soldiers were needed to quell the lethal fighting inside.
Authorities linked Saturday’s violence to Ecuador’s ongoing struggles with the influence of transnational drug gangs.
“We are fighting against drug trafficking,” governor Pablo Arosemena of the Guayas province to the Associated Press. “It is very hard.”
Roughly 300 people have died in prison violence in Ecuador this year.
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