By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
Five severed heads were left next to a narco banner threatening a criminal group in the beach town of Puerto López, Ecuador. The public display of violence, typical in Mexico, has become increasingly common in conflict zones in Ecuador in recent years as Ecuadorian criminal groups have adopted the tactics of Mexican criminal organizations.
The severed heads were found hanging from a rope on a tourist beach on the morning of January 11th. Two banners with the same message threatening local criminals who target fishermen were found at the scene. The messaged stated: "The town belongs to us. Keep going out to rob the fishermen and keep demanding the vaccine card. We have all of you identified. You are going to die in the same way."
The line about the vaccine card references proof of extortion payments fishermen are required to provide to criminal groups showing that they are up to date on their protection fees.
The victims have been identified as Pedro M. (34 years old), Jorge Q. (22), Anthony A. (20), Bernardo M. (24) and Daniel R. Two of the victims previously had been under investigation for involvement with organized crime, but the charges were dropped.
A day later, a decapitated body was found in a boat on El Matal beach, in the Jama canton of Manabí province.
Violent crime has increased in this city over the last months. The number of homicides increased from 29 in 2024 to 52 in 2025, a 79% jump year over year. Mass killings and mutilated corpses have become a common sight in the city where criminal groups are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes. The increase in violence mirrors overall trends across Ecuador, which just had its most violent year, with 9,176 homicides in 2025. 75% of the homicides occur in just three provinces: Guayas, Manabí, and Los Rios, near the western coast.
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| Percentage of homicides in Ecuador by province |
Each year, Ecuador breaks its own records for seizures of cocaine, highlighting the nation's increased role as a transit point for South American drug traffickers on their way to the United States and Europe. Over the last few years, the number of hectares used for cocaine cultivation has increased, now with an output of $320 million of the drug, according to Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa.
Sources: Ecuavisa, El Comercio, Ecuavisa, InfoBae, OECO Homicides study
Ecuador copying Mexico tactics. Where's the Choros Cartel aka Dierihea cartel.
ReplyDelete@11.24. No, Mexico copied Central American militia tactics. Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, it's been a tactic used long before Mexican cartels adopted it.
Delete7:47
DeleteIt's been a human tactic for thousands of years.
7:47 the brutish stole the spanish colonies, Napoleón had conquered Urope and got himself named emperor of all the France's conquered lands, helped by the brutish avenging the help the french monarchy had given the american drug trafficking narco-terrorista bootleggers that became independent US, the US spred the independentista idea of a free america and helped the former hispanic colonies become independent from the French and the british that had stolen everything from Napoleón Empire, Monroe Doctrine spred and has never given up on the exploitation of Latin-America, even drug trafficking belongs to american enterprises, helped by the local puppet regimes they put in place, the US trained all the latin-american gorillates that murder and keep the plantation happy, CIA, FORT BRAGG, are famous for the sisciples they have vreated
Delete7:47 MEXICO is not home of the CIA, FORT BRAGG, UNITED FRUIT.CO, NSA OR CHIQUITA BANANAS as some little pricks like you are trying ro make us believe...
DeleteOperadores delta Tier 1 de Sinaloa se an detectado aquí en mi ecuador por servicios de inteligencia si el gobierno no hace nada en ecuador todo se va ir al carajo
ReplyDeleteCommunist presidente Rafael Correa never had problems and Ecuador was in a very good position.
ReplyDeleteCommunism is the easy way out! Que si meh la jalo oh no meh la jalo! Just alotta jale setup. The ones of communism got checked out earlier in life! It's not even a sad story anymore about what has to happen to them. It is just normalcy and business like always.
ReplyDeleteThey've been doing this in Central America just as long as they have in Mexico. The tactic came mainly from Kaibiles in Guatamala.
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ReplyDelete9:07 AM
DeleteGet a grip bro you posting that shit all over the yard