Media Citation
Ecuador's crackdown on gangs fractures criminal networks and fuels bloodshed | Reuters
Source: Reuters | 29 October 2025
The death toll of the March shoot-out in several houses in Nueva Prosperina, one of Guayaquil's most violent neighborhoods, was 22.
Police say the bloodshed was the local result of a national phenomenon in Ecuador: the fracturing of dangerous criminal groups that have been thrown into chaos as the government takes down major gang leaders.
Nueva Prosperina, in Guayaquil's northwest, was previously controlled by the Los Tiguerones gang, but the capture of the group's leader in Spain in late 2024 has sparked competition to control its activities. Police blame the March deaths on a war between two factions.
