Eight severed human heads have been found near a sign that says ‘stealing is forbidden’ as gang warfare continues to ravage Ecuador.
The gruesome discovery was made in the coastal province of Guayas on Saturday and is linked to a confrontation between criminal groups.
Guayas is one of the main areas rocked by bloody disputes between drug trafficking groups, which have turned the South American nation into the continent’s most violent.
The eight victims were believed to have been killed in the neighbouring province of Manabi.
There ‘were several pamphlets’ near the sacks containing the message ‘stealing is prohibited’, Guayas police commander Marcelo Castillo said.
It comes after five other human heads were found hanging from ropes on a tourist beach last month. The remains were left with a warning sign directed at alleged extortionists of fishermen in the small port of Puerto Lopez.
Drug-trafficking networks with links to transnational cartels are active in the area and have used fishermen and their small boats for their illicit activities.
A dispute for territory and control of drug-trafficking routes has triggered violent episodes across the Manabi province, where Puerto Lopez is located.
A spate of severed human heads has been found along the coast of Ecuador. Last month, five were found tied to two wooden poles alongside a threatening message
A warning sign towards alleged extortionists of fishermen in the small fishing port last month
There is an ongoing state of emergency enforced in nine of the Andean country’s 24 provinces, including Manabi.
This seeks to contain the spiral of violence, especially in coastal areas, and restricts certain civil rights.
Police controls in Puerto Lopez increased after a massacre left six people dead in December.
A second armed attack three days later left the same number of dead in Manta, also in the province of Manabi.
Puerto Lopez is best known as a whale-watching destination and a hub for both domestic and foreign tourism.
The bloodshed comes amid a broader deterioration in security across Ecuador, where violence tied to drug trafficking routes and gang rivalries has surged in recent years.
In October, five people were shot dead at a pool hall in Santo Domingo, west of the capital Quito, after gunmen opened fire during a gang-related dispute.
Ecuador has been engulfed in a wave of violence for more than four years after becoming a logistical center for the storage and distribution of drugs
And in September, another pool hall attack left seven people dead and four wounded.
More recently, in December, former Ecuador international footballer Mario Pineida, 33, was killed alongside another person during an armed attack in Guayaquil, the country’s largest city. A third victim was injured.
Ecuador has been engulfed in a wave of violence for more than four years after becoming a logistical center for the storage and distribution of drugs that enter mainly through the northern border with Colombia and the southern border with Peru.
Last year was Ecuador’s most violent year on record, with more than 9,000 homicides, surpassing the record set in 2023 with 8,248 deaths
