New disturbances are reported in prisons in Ecuador

Havana, April 5 (RHC)-- At least 20 prison guards were held hostage this Wednesday by prisoners in the Latacunga prison, in the province of Cotopaxi, due to new disturbances reported in various prisons in Ecuador amid the insecurity crisis that the region is experiencing.

The inmates would be demanding that members of the Los Lobos criminal organization be transferred to Latacunga.

This event occurred one day after the riot between members of the criminal gangs R7 and Los Lobos, registered in the La Roca maximum security prison, located in the Ecuadorian province of Guayaquil, which left three dead and one wounded, according to sources. officers.

Similarly, the National Service for Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI), the National Police and the Armed Forces confirmed another confrontation between inmates in the Turi prison, in the province of Azuay.

In response to these incidents, the SNAI activated the security protocols in all prisons in the South American country.

In 2022, the government of President Guillermo Lasso promoted a restructuring of the detention centers and in response there were various riots and a wave of terror in the streets of several provinces where they declared a state of emergency.

The Andean nation is suffering from an insecurity crisis that the government attributes to the mafias associated with drug trafficking and the response of these gangs to the actions of the Executive to confront them.

In the last two years, prison massacres left a balance of more than 400 inmates dead and at the end of 2022 the director of a Quito penitentiary was murdered.

From detention centers, gangs such as Los Chone Killers, Los Choneros, Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones dominate drug trafficking in Ecuador, while law enforcement officers claim to have seized more than 200 tons of narcotics in 2022.    (Source: Prensa Latina)