Guayaquil Massacre a Harsh Reminder of Ecuador's Security Reality

by Gavin Voss
11 Mar 2025

Warring factions of the Tiguerones criminal group carried out one of Ecuador’s worst-ever massacres, as the government continues to struggle to deter lethal criminal battles.

A March 6 gang attack left at least 22 people dead in Ecuador’s port city and drug trafficking hub, Guayaquil, local media reported. The violence rocked the Socio Vivienda and La Barraca neighborhoods of Nueva Prosperina, a district in the city’s northwest that has become a base of operations and a conflict zone for criminal groups.

Videos taken by Socio Vivienda residents looking on from a distance show apparent gang members chasing each other through the streets, as the clap of high-powered rifle fire rings out.
“Nueva Prosperina is a battlefield, leaving the neighborhood’s residents defenseless and living in fear,” Mayor of Guayaquil Aquiles Álvarez said on X following the attacks.

Police told local media that the killings were the result of an ongoing conflict between two criminal groups: the Fénix and the Igualitos. Both are factions of the Tiguerones, one of the country’s largest criminal groups with a strong presence in Guayaquil and the northern province of Esmeraldas, both crucial drug trafficking corridors. The murder of a Fénix leader two days prior motivated the attacks, Primicias reported.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/guayaquil-massacre-harsh-reminder-ecuadors-security-reality/