GuayaquilThe director of a prison in Guayaquil, the largest in Ecuador and the scene of the worst massacres among prisoners, was murdered on Thursday, the agency in charge of prisons (SNAI) reported.
“The director in charge of the Guayas Men’s Deprivation of Liberty Center No. 1, María Daniela Icaza, died as a victim of an armed attack,” the entity indicated in its press chat on WhatsApp.
The official, the second prison official to be killed in ten days, was attacked on a road leading to the Daule area in northern Guayaquil, according to SNAI. She died after the attack, while being taken to the hospital.
The police “are already on site beginning investigations that will allow them to locate those responsible,” the institution said on the X network.
Guayaquil is one of the most violent cities in Ecuador due to the onslaught of drug gangs fighting over drug trafficking routes.
On September 3, Alex Guevara, director of the prison in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos (northeast and bordering Colombia), died in an armed attack that left two other prison officials injured.
Two weeks ago, two prison officers in Guayaquil were also murdered on their way to work.
The prison governing body said that “during the attack, a SNAI official who was accompanying the director” of the prison known as the Litoral Penitentiary was also injured.
“We categorically reject any act of violence and reaffirm our commitment to guarantee the safety of all employees of this institution,” he added.
The Litoral Penitentiary is one of the prisons that has been the scene of bloody clashes between members of drug gangs, which have left more than 460 prisoners dead since 2021.
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– 2024-09-13 17:35:09
