Prison's Top Administrator Meet Their Demise in Public Assault in Ecuador
Approximately a week after the assassination of an Ecuadorian prison director in a vehicle ambush, the head of the nation's largest penitentiary met a similar fate. Per a Thursday statement from prison authority SNAI on WhatsApp, María Daniela Icaza succumbed to her wounds from a "street-based armed attack." One of her staff members was also hurt in the incident.
Icaza was the leader of the infamous Litoral Prison in the coastal city of Guayaquil. The attack allegedly took place, as per SNAI, when she was driving on the route to Daule city in her vehicle.
Nine days prior, the director of a Sucumbíos province prison in the Amazon region was gunned down. Multiple shots were fired at his vehicle, leaving two of his staff members injured. Two additional prison workers in Guayaquil met the same fate during their commute two weeks ago.
Ecuador's prisons are counted among the most hazardous globally. Countless drug gangs have reportedly seized control of several prison facilities in the country. Following the escape of a powerful gang leader and a surge of violence, President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency in January, citing a "domestic armed conflict." This transfer of authority to military control has been in effect ever since.
Over the past few years, transnational drug cartels have amplified their influence in Ecuador, using the country's ports, such as Guayaquil, as a drug distribution hub to the US and Europe. In 2023, Ecuador's murder rate peaked at 47 homicides per 100,000 residents, a significant increase from the six murders per 100,000 residents recorded five years prior. However, Noboa's administration highlights that this year's murder count is lower than the 2022 figure.
The Director of the Litoral Prison in Guayaquil, who was known as María Daniela Icaza, was tragically killed in a street-based armed attack. This incident occurred just a week after the Director of an Ecuadorian prison in the Amazon region met a similar fate in a vehicle ambush.
