Officials reported that six Colombians detained as the purported assassins of a candidate in Ecuador’s August presidential election were killed on Friday in a Guayaquil prison without going into further detail.
Only six detainees from Litoral Penitentiary were killed, according to the prison administration, and these were the ones “charged with the murder of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.” They were identified as José Neyder L., Adey Fernando G., Camilo Andrés R., Sules Osmini C., Jhon Gregore R., and Andrés Manuel M.
Six persons were confirmed deceased earlier by the authorities after “an event occurred inside” the facility. The largest and one of the most dangerous prisons in Ecuador is called Litoral; throughout the previous three years, there have been multiple disturbances there that have resulted in fatalities.
Villavicencio was shot dead on August 9 as he left a political demonstration. At the time of the killings, the prosecutor’s office was almost through with its investigation.
Despite not being among the front-runners, the 59-year-old politician’s murder in broad daylight less than two weeks before the election served as a shocking reminder of the rise in violence plaguing Ecuador. He had claimed that members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, one of the several foreign organised crime organisations operating in Ecuador, had threatened him.
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Hours after the alleged crime, Villavicencio’s alleged hitmen were apprehended and ordered held in preventative arrest. Additionally, six other persons have been detained on suspicion of complicity.
Local media said that the deaths took place in pavilion 7, which authorities claim is controlled by the neighbourhood gang Los Choneros, directed by Adolfo Macas, despite the fact that authorities gave no information about the killings on Friday. Villaviciencio specifically accused Macas of being the source of threats against him throughout his election campaign.
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, who is currently abroad, announced on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he will return to the country to deal with the emergency.
“Neither complicity nor cover-up, the truth will be known here,” he stated.
The top two vote-getters from the August election, socialist Luisa González and former congressman Daniel Noboa, the son of a banana tycoon, will face off in a runoff election on October 15.
