COPS have stormed a violent prison riot between rival gangs that left a prison guard among the 14 dead.
Terrifying footage shows police stormed through an Ecuadorian prison to end the brutal riot.
ReutersBird’s-eye footage of the riot shows several officers ready to pounce[/caption]
ReutersThe dramatic POV footage shows the moment armed cops storm the prison[/caption]
ReutersOfficers faced explosions and gunfire as they entered the danger zone[/caption]
Video shows heavily armed officers charging into the prison as explosions are going off around them.
The officers were first confronted with one of their own.
The man called out: “I’m a police officer, please don’t shoot”, before he emerged from inside a cell.
The violent confrontation erupted between inmates from two criminal groups – Los Lobos and Los Choneros – in the South American prison on Monday.
They are the two biggest drug trafficking groups in Ecuador and were declared foreign terrorist organisations by the US in early September.
The violence broke out in the early hours of the morning, alerting prison guards and police to the Machala prison.
Rival members were heavily armed with guns and explosives as the chaos ensued.
Police Chief William Calle said the violence lasted for around 40 minutes, where prisoners “fired guns, threw bombs and grenades” at each other.
A prison guard was among the dead, while prisoners kidnapped several police officers before escaping the facility.
Authorities say at least 13 escapees have since been recaptured, however the total amount of escaped prisoners remains unknown.
The bloodbath claimed 14 victims, with 14 others seriously injured.
Chief Calle said: “Uniformed officers confronted heavily armed inmates who tried to escape and maintain control of the cellblock”.
He said several guards were attacked and numerous police officers were taken hostage throughout the chaos.
Chief Calle said local and national security forces had been deployed to stop the violence, and injured inmates had been taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
“Control has already been regained,” he said.
An investigation into the riot is underway but the cause remains unknown.
ReutersPolice shielded themselves behind their equipment and prison walls[/caption]
AFPOfficers were parked outside the prison as the riot was brought under control[/caption]
AFP14 people were killed in the riot, including one prison guard[/caption]
Monday’s mayhem was the latest event in a series of lawless episodes inside the overcrowded prison system.
Ecuador is no stranger to deadly outbreaks of prison violence, rival gangs fight for dominance.
Just two years ago, a barbaric mega-gang known as The Wolves murdered aspiring Ecuadorian president Fernando Villavicencio.
The politician was assassinated at a rally, where he was speaking against cartels and corruption.
In his haunting final speech, Villavicencio promised a roaring crown that he would root out corruption and lock up the country’s criminals.
After his murder, a video emerged where hooded figures wielding weapons claimed responsibility for the shooting.
One of the figures had a message for the public.
“We want to make it clear to the entire Ecuadorian nation that every time corrupt politicians do not fulfill their promises to establish, when they receive our money, which is millions of dollars, to finance their campaign, they will be discharged,” he said.
The government vowed to crack down on the brutal violence, laying the blame at the feet of rival gangs vying for control.
The violence has been backdropped by Donald Trump’s vow to deport illegal immigrants, including “terrorists, gangsters and perverts”.
In January, his administration had already deported an estimated 538 people as Trump declared a national emergency at the border with Mexico.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was the “largest mass deportation operation in history”.
“Today the Trump administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several illegals convicted of sex crimes against minors,” she added.
The once-peaceful country has become ground zero for the vicious Latin American drug trade, leaving the surrounding communities engulfed in gang-ridden violence.
Nestled between Colombia and Peru – the world’s two top cocaine exporters – violence in Ecuador has spiralled out of control in recent years, as rival gangs with Mexican and Colombian cartel ties struggle for control.
More than 70 per cent of all cocaine produced passes through Ecuadorian ports, according to government data.
AFPPolice preparing the storm the prison[/caption]
AFPRival gangs continue to cause violence inside the country’s prisons[/caption]
Gang wars continue to play out inside prisons, where an estimated 500 inmates have been murdered since February 2021.
Their bodies have often been dismembered or burnt.
Ecuador’s biggest prison massacre happened in 2021, where more than 100 inmates died.
Prisoners were going live on social media, broadcasting the violence world-wide, showing decapitated and charred bodies.
Last year, gang members took several guards hostage following the prison break of narco boss Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar – also known as Fito.
He is the top dog of the Los Choneros gang.
ReutersArmed forces transfer the criminal leader “Fito” after he was secured during a raid in 2023[/caption]
Allies outside the prison detonated bombs and held a television presenter at gunpoint live on air.
At the time, President Daniel Noboa declared a “state of internal armed conflict” and ordered the military take control of the prisons.
However, just last month eight prisons – including Machala – were returned to police control.
Fito was recaptured in June, more than a year after his escape.
He had been serving a 34-year sentence since 2011 for his involvement in organised crime, drug trafficking and murder.
He still, however, manages to remain in control of the underworld group from behind bars.
Videos have emerged of Fito at wild parties, some with fireworks, showing the lawlessness of Ecuadorian prisons.
The Los Choneros group has ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and Colombia’s Gulf Clan – the world’s largest cocaine exporter.
They also deal with Balkan mafia groups, according to the Ecuadorian Organised Crime Observatory.