Severed Heads Found on Ecuador Beach in Apparent Gang Warning
January 13 2025
Authorities in Ecuador are investigating the discovery of five severed heads found on a beachfront in the coastal town of Puerto López, in what officials believe was a warning directed at criminal groups threatening local fishermen.
The remains were discovered on Sunday by bathers along the shoreline. According to local reports, a sign was found alongside the body parts, warning those involved in stealing from or extorting fishermen that they would face the same fate. Puerto López, a Pacific coastal town, has been heavily affected by escalating gang violence in recent years.
Police have confirmed that the remains belong to five men who had been reported missing several days earlier. The victims were between 20 and 34 years old.
Officials stated that one of the men had a prior criminal record for gun possession. The bodies of the victims have not yet been recovered.
Ports and coastal communities along Ecuador’s Pacific coast have been among the areas hardest hit by organized crime, as gangs use these locations to traffic cocaine from Ecuador to markets in the United States and Europe.
According to figures released by Ecuador’s Interior Ministry, 2025 was the most violent year on record, with homicides reaching an unprecedented 9,176 nationwide. Ecuador, which lies between Colombia and Peru the world’s two largest cocaine producers has increasingly become a key transit hub for illegal narcotics.
Counternarcotics experts say local criminal groups have formed alliances with powerful Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. In addition to drug trafficking, gangs routinely extort local businesses for “protection money” and carry out violent attacks against those who refuse to comply.
Puerto López has been the scene of several recent deadly incidents. On December 28, six people, including a two-year-old child, were killed and three others injured when gunmen opened fire on a group gathered on the beachfront. Police said that attack, along with another shooting the previous day that left three people dead, was linked to a violent struggle for control of the town between rival factions of the Los Choneros gang.
Los Choneros is regarded as one of the primary drivers of Ecuador’s surge in gang-related violence. In September, the United States Department of State designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Its leader, known as “Fito,” was extradited to the United States in July last year.
(BBC)
