Ecuador: Unknow Suspects Kills Director of One of the Largest Prisions in the Country
Ecuadorean Police in the Crime Scene, Sept 13, 2024 Photo: @elurbanonews
September 13, 2024 Hour: 1:53 pm
It is the second murder of a prison warden in nine days in the South American country.
The National Service of Integral Care to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) in Ecuador reported on Thursday that María Daniela Icaza, director of the Penitentiary del Litoral, the largest and most populated prison in Ecuador, was killed in an attack in which another prison officer was injured.
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On the road between Daule and Guayaquil, where the Penitentiary of the Littoral is located, the attack against Icaza and his companion occurred around 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Thursday.
According to local media, as Icaza was heading for the Guasmo Sur Hospital in southern Guayaquil, armed men intercepted the vehicle and fired at her, who was in the co-pilot’s seat.
The SNAI initially reported that Icaza had been taken alive to hospital, but later confirmed her death.
This is the second murder of a prison leader in nine days, after Álex Guevara, director of the Lago Agrio prison in the Amazon province of Sucumbíos, was killed in similar circumstances on 3 September.
The Litoral Penitentiary, also known as the Guayas Male Deprivation Center Number 1, is the largest of the five prisons in the Guayaquil penitentiary complex and houses about 12,000 inmates.
The Litoral Penitentiary was the scene of the worst massacres between 2021 and 2023 due to clashes between criminal gangs seeking internal control.
