On Sunday, Ecuadorean police reported on how officers discovered 10 dead bodies at a property in Guabo, a community in El Oro province in the Andean country’s south.
In recent years, violence has increased throughout Ecuador and the authorities have attributed this to gangs of drug traffickers looking to control territories and smuggling routes.
The worsening crime and violence this year compelled President Daniel Noboa to declare a state of internal armed conflict and delegate almost two dozen gangs as terrorist groups.
Colonel Pablo Fajardo had told local journalists;
“There are nine dead bodies and a kilometer further in there is a corpse that is completely dismembered in a jute bag.”
At the time of filing this report, the nationality of the 10 victims is yet to be ascertained, and Fajardo had said they could be foreigners who were attacked as they were resting.
Bullets recovered from the scene include 9-millimeter rounds and 5.56 caliber rifle ammunition, according to Fajardo who added that other people who were with the victims may possibly have escaped.
Preliminary investigations have suggest the victims may have criminal records for illegal trafficking of controlled substances, robbery and attempted murder, Ecuador’s police remarked.
