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Updated October 4th, 2021 at 18:00 IST

Ecuador police reclaim control over Guayaquil prison recently hit by gang riots

Ecuadorian police have reclaimed control of a prison in the city of Guayaquil, where at least 118 people were killed in gang riots.

Reported by: Aparna Shandilya
Ecuador
Image: AP | Image:self
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Ecuador's police have regained control of a prison in the city of Guayaquil, where at least 118 people were killed in gang riots, said the police chief Tannya Varela. "The violence was brought under control based on the state of emergency, which authorises the police and armed forces to be inside the institution," Varela stated in a video posted on Twitter. The caption of the tweet, after being translated, reads, "The work of @PoliciaEcuador has had only one objective: to regain control within the Litoral Penitentiary and maintain order in all the country's prisons."

The police confiscated 13 firearms, including six automatic rifles and seven pistols, 1,136 rounds of various calibres, 250 knives, five grenades, 60 cellphones, and 6 kilogrammes (13 pounds) of drugs during the operation at the Litoral prison. Last week, the violence between criminal groups, which is frequent in Ecuadorian jails, erupted, murdering 118 inmates and injuring 79 others, setting a new high for the country's prison system in terms of casualties.

Following meetings with senior officials, the country's president, Guillermo Lasso, declared a 60-day state of emergency in the jail system. Around 3,600 law enforcement officers were dispatched to detention centres across Ecuador, with a total capacity of 29,000 detainees. However, the prison service estimates that roughly 40,000 convicts are now housed in these facilities. The Litoral jail, in particular, has almost 8,000 inmates while being constructed to hold only 5,000. The authorities want to award pardons to about 2,000 inmates to reduce prison overcrowding. On 28 September, convicts from one side of the prison crawled through a hole to gain entrance to a different wing, where they attacked members of rival gangs. Inmates used bombs and guns against one another.

Image: AP

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Published October 4th, 2021 at 18:00 IST

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