A deadly riot at Machala prison in southwest Ecuador has left 31 inmates dead and dozens injured, marking one of the country’s worst prison tragedies this year. The violence erupted around 3 a.m., with neighbors reporting gunfire, explosions, and screams that lasted for hours. By morning, 27 inmates had been found hanged or asphyxiated, four others killed in clashes, and at least 33 prisoners and one officer injured.
Authorities say forensic teams are still investigating, though early evidence points to mass executions rather than spontaneous violence. Elite police and military units took nearly twelve hours to regain control of the facility, which was left with destroyed cell blocks, weapons scattered across the floors, and bodies hanging from makeshift nooses.
While officials haven’t confirmed who was responsible, investigators suspect rival gangs, possibly triggered by a recent prison reorganization intended to separate hostile factions. Such reshuffles often spark turf wars over control of cell blocks, contraband, and external criminal networks.
Ecuador’s prisons have long reflected the country’s broader security crisis. Drug trafficking, corruption, and weak oversight have turned penitentiaries into hubs of organized crime. Since 2021, more than 500 inmates have been killed in similar attacks, many of them highly coordinated and brutal. Reports suggest that gangs inside prisons now function as operational centers for international drug trafficking.
The Machala facility has a violent history. Just two months earlier, a riot left 14 inmates dead after explosives and firearms were smuggled in. Other incidents in cities like Esmeraldas have shown the extreme brutality of these conflicts. What sets this massacre apart is the method: most victims died by hanging or suffocation, indicating premeditation rather than chaos.
Families of inmates gathered outside the prison at dawn, desperate for news, a ritual that has become tragically familiar in Ecuador. “The soldiers told us to go to the morgue to see if our loved ones are alive or dead,” one woman said.
Ecuador’s geographic position — between Colombia and Peru, with major Pacific ports — has made it a key transit point for cocaine, fueling a spike in nationwide violence. Homicide rates have tripled in four years, and cartels now operate with military precision, influencing politics, law enforcement, and prison operations.
The government, led by President Daniel Noboa, has deployed the military and promised new high-security prisons. Yet analysts warn that without systemic reform, militarization alone cannot contain the problem. Overcrowding, lack of basic services, and corruption make prisons fertile ground for chaos, and gangs continue to recruit and operate behind bars.
At Machala, reports suggest the riot began when inmates attempted to seize a new section of the prison. Guards were overwhelmed, fires spread, and violent clashes erupted before reinforcements arrived. Scenes of wrapped bodies and armed patrols underscored the horror of the massacre.
The tragedy has exposed the state’s inability to control its most dangerous institutions. For the families outside the prison walls and a nation grappling with escalating narco-violence, justice feels distant, and the specter of further bloodshed looms large.