Drone bomb attack on maximum security prison thwarted

Ecuadorian authorities on Thursday foiled an attack with a drone equipped with explosives on a maximum-security prison in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil, the so-called Ecuadorian Security Bloc, which consists of the police and army to combat drug trafficking.

The device, which was on the roof of the prison, exploded and destroyed part of the roof, according to Aerial photos by AFP.

Later, the Security Bloc informed the press that it had carried out such an action “the controlled explosion” of the device after an assessment of how the threat can be neutralized.

“The action of the Security Bloc prevented an attack that was intended to be carried out in the Guayas No. 3 Deprivation of Liberty Center, known as La Roca, with the aim of eliminating this center,” the agency initially said in a statement.

It was added that intervention by the police, army and prison guards was needed. “identified and thwarted the action of a drone carrying explosives that flew over La Roca” La Roca, part of a large prison complex in Guayaquil, in southwestern Ecuador, where more than 100 high-profile inmates are held.

It holds mafia bosses and politicians accused of corruption, as well as former Vice President Jorge Glas, who was arrested last April when police raided the Mexican embassy in Quito, where he had sought asylum. This event led to a rift in relations between the two countries.

In September 2023, security forces carried out a controlled detonation of another drone loaded with explosives who landed at La Roca.

The prisons of Ecuador, which have become centers of criminal activities, have been under military control since January, when President Daniel Noboa declared the country in an internal armed conflict over drug cartel attacks.

“We will address any of your continued attempts to regain control of the prison system and the country,” the Security Bloc said in a message included in Thursday’s note and addressed to the “mafias” operating in the country.