Seven dead in latest massacre in gang-ridden Ecuador

Some victims in Sunday’s shooting suffered as many as forty gunshot wounds, police in the western municipality of Samborondon told X.

The identity of the victims and the motive for the shooting were not disclosed.

Local media reported dozens of injuries.

Samborondon is located in Guayas province on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, where drug gangs with links to international cartels have left a trail of blood in their battle for control of smuggling routes.

The province is home to the port city of Guayaquil, the main exit point for drugs bound for the United States and Europe.

In the once peaceful country of 17 million inhabitants, the number of murders has increased eightfold in five years.

© 2024 AFP