After a powerful boss of the Los Lobos gang was transferred to another prison, a mutiny broke out in El Inca prison in Ecuador. At least ten prisoners died.
Soldiers guard the entrance to the «El Inca» penitentiary while the forensic team drives out a truck with the dead.
(dpa)
At least 10 prisoners died in a mutiny at a prison in Ecuador. The riots in the “El Inca” prison in the capital Quito broke out after a powerful boss of the Los Lobos gang was transferred to another prison, the prison administration said on Friday (local time). Special police and military units then entered the prison to bring the situation back under control.
Brutal clashes break out again and again in the Ecuadorian prisons. According to media reports, around 400 people have been killed in the prisons of the South American country since the beginning of last year. Due to the desolate conditions in the penal system, President Guillermo Lasso replaced the head of the prison system for the fifth time in mid-October since he took office a year and a half ago.
As in other Latin American countries, prisons in Ecuador are overcrowded. Many prisons are controlled by crime syndicates. Often the security forces only ensure that the prisoners stay in the detention centers. Within the walls they are largely left to their own devices.