QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Five human heads were found hanging from ropes on a beach in southwestern Ecuador, a country gripped by a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking.
Pictures released by Ecuadorian media showed bloody scenes. Next to the profile picture is a warning sign targeting people suspected of extorting fishermen in the small fishing port of Puerto Lopez. The rope is attached to a wooden pole on the beach.
Police reports attributed the incident to a clash between criminal groups.
According to authorities, drug trafficking networks linked to transnational cartels are active in the region and use fishermen and their boats to carry out illegal activities.
Disputes over territory and control of drug trafficking routes have sparked violence in Manawi province, where Puerto Lopez is located.
Police said on Saturday they had carried out a control and surveillance operation in Puerto Lopez amid the ongoing state of emergency in nine of the Andean country’s 24 departments, including Manawi.
The state of emergency is intended to curb an escalation of violence, especially in coastal areas, and restricts certain civil rights.
Puerto Lopez police have tightened controls after a massacre two weeks ago that left six people dead. Three days later, a second armed attack killed the same number of people in Manta, also in Manabi province.
Ecuador has been engulfed in a wave of violence for more than four years after becoming a logistical hub for drug storage and distribution, with drugs entering mainly through its northern border with Colombia and southern border with Peru.
2025 was Ecuador’s most violent year on record, with more than 9,000 homicides, according to official figures, surpassing the previous record of 8,248 deaths set in 2023.
