Photo: MARCELO SUQUILANDA/AP/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
The Ecuadorian Police announced on Tuesday (10.05.2022) the capture of 200 prisoners who were still fugitives, the day after a mass escape from a prison in the center of the country, facilitated by a bloody brawl.
At least 44 inmates died when a fight broke out early Monday morning between the Los Lobos gang and its rival R7 in the Bellavista prison, in the city of Santo Domingo (about 80 Km from Quito). Another ten prisoners were injured, in addition to a police officer, according to the authorities.
Although the uniformed officers took control of the prison and declared “total tranquility”, burnt facades and A hole in the wall that was allegedly used in the escape recalled the violent events, according to the AFP agency during a visit to the prison complex.
Ecuador confirms the recapture of 200 Prisoners escaped during riot in Bellavista prison
https://t.co/XXKbPLdQ8C– Revista Semana (@RevistaSemana) May 11, 2022
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With this last bloody episode they add up to almost 400 inmates killed in six massacres in Ecuadorian prisons since February 2021, which the government attributes to a fight between gangs for drug distribution dent outside the prisons.
President Guillermo Lasso said that his government is waging an “unconventional war” against a “new enemy” in Ecuador, bordering with Colombia and Peru, the largest producers of cocaine in the world.
The president spoke during a meeting with an Israeli security firm in Tel Aviv, where he is touring with the objective of providing Ecuador with technology to combat the violence that also spreads in the streets. The country registered more than 1.200 murders in the first four months of the year, half of what was registered in all 2021.
Most of the victims in Bellavista died from bladed weapons within the cells. However, the authorities also found rifles, pistols, grenades and ammunition.
gs (afp, efe)