This is not the first time that prisons in Ecuador have been left unresolved by rival gangs, as is often the case in other parts of Latin America. In recent months, tensions have risen over the murder of Jorge Luis Sambrano, the leader of the Soneros gang, according to the prison system. He was shot dead in a hotel in December, several months after his release from prison.
According to prison director Edmundo Moncayo, this was a simultaneous act. “Riots broke out in three prisons simultaneously.” About 800 policemen and soldiers were dispatched to send things properly. Several police officers were injured, and it is not yet clear how many.
Dozens of women involved have been jailed in Guayaquil, the most economically important city in Ecuador, for wanting to see a list of the dead. When a phone call was made in prison, some complained that they had not heard from their husband or son for some time. They had previously received reports that a fight was about to erupt, and criticized the authorities for not doing enough about it.
Guns, hands, knives and cell phones were found in one of the three prisons. In response to the bloody violence, the Ecuadorian president ordered the army to strictly restrict the smuggling of weapons, ammunition and ammunition into prisons.
