At least nine people died Friday in the latest prison riots in violence-torn Ecuador, where about 400 inmates have been killed since last year, prosecutors said.
The violence erupted at El Inca prison, north of the capital Quito, the bureau said on Twitter, adding that an operation “to remove the bodies” was underway.
The SNAI prison authority put the death toll at eight inmates in a statement.
The announcement came just hours after the government said it would transfer two inmates it suspected of masterminding previous prison riots to a maximum-security prison.
One of the two, leader of the Los Lobos gang, Jonathan Bermudez, had been responsible for a previous massacre at El Inca, according to a presidency statement.
“We told them our hand would not tremble,” President Guillermo Lasso said of the transfer on Twitter on Friday, warning of “the same fate for those who continue their attempts to break the peace of Ecuadorians.”
In other tweets, the President posted photos of inmates with their hands tied and others lying face down in prison yards and corridors.
The SNAI said that “Members of this criminal organization (Los Lobos) took violent reprisals for the transfer of Bermudez to another prison.”
“We will continue to act decisively and without ceasing to fight organized crime that threatens the security and peace of Ecuadorians,” she added.
Earlier this month, Lasso’s government relocated about 2,400 inmates and sparked a riot by gang members who engaged in shootings and detonated car bombs at gas stations and police stations.
Eight people were killed in the attacks in the port city of Guayaquil, including five police officers.
Lasso responded to these attacks by declaring a state of emergency and a night curfew in the provinces of Guayas, Esmeraldas and Santa Domingo de los Tsachilas.
He also ordered troops to be sent to the three provinces, home to a third of Ecuador’s 18 million people.
Since February 2021, Ecuador has witnessed eight prison massacres that have killed about 400 people, many decapitated or burned.
The last gang-led prison riot took place in Quito on October 8, when five inmates died.
Once a relatively peaceful neighbor to major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has evolved from a drug transit route into a vital distribution center plagued by drug violence.
Authorities blame the violent crime spate on rival gangs linked to Mexican cartels.
The homicide rate in Ecuador nearly doubled to 14 per 100,000 people in 2021, reaching 18 per 100,000 between January and October this year, according to official figures.
