SNAI, Ecuador’s penitentiary system and inmate rehabilitation authority, provided details of the two incidents through separate official statements.
In a first statement, SNAI explained that Ecuadorian Police sent a tactical unit to the Machala prison to regain control of the inmate center in response to an alert issued by the prison. The Ecuadorian newspaper Primicias, citing information from the police, reported prison inmates began clashing at around 02:45a.m. (local time), leaving four dead and at least 43 injured, several of them in serious conditions. A police officer was reportedly injured during the riot.
Hours later, SNAI released a second statement informing that 27 inmates were found dead by suspected asphyxiation after another Sunday violent incident in the same prison. Primicias stated that authorities attribute both incidents to clashes between rival gangs operating inside the prison amid ongoing efforts to relocate dangerous inmates to a maximum security facility.
“The competent authorities are working to fully clarify the facts,” the second statement read.
Relatives wait outside the prison after an armed riot that left four dead and dozens more injured in Machala, Ecuador on November 9, 2025. At least 27 prisoners were found dead from asphyxiation on Sunday afternoon in a prison in southwestern Ecuador, hours after police contained an armed riot that left four dead and dozens injured earlier in the morning. (LUIS SUAREZ/AFP via Getty)
The Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo described the atmosphere inside the prison as “chaotic,” with an unnamed agent that spoke to the outlet on condition of anonymity asserting that “We don’t understand how this could have happened again.” Ecuadorian forensic officials arrived at the prison to collect evidence and secure clues that would enable them to reconstruct the moments leading to the inmates’ deaths.
Ecuador has faced a years-long wave of out of control violent gang crime and frequently recurring deadly prison riots. During his first term, current President Daniel Noboa issued a declaration designating over 20 of the nation’s most dangerous gangs as military targets in response to a brutally violent January 2024 wave of violence. In May, at the start of his second term, Noboa vowed to stop Ecuador’s violent gangs.
The Ecuadorian president has also aligned himself with the United States and President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to combat drug trafficking and curb the flow of drugs entering America.
Last week, President Noboa met with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to discuss the possible re-establishing of a U.S. drug-fighting presence in Ecuador after the socialist administration of convicted fugitive former President Rafael Correa rescinded military cooperation between both countries in the late 2000s.
In addition to the deadly prison riots, residents of the city of Machala, located in southwestern Ecuador, found the human remains of a distempered man on Sunday morning.
The remains were reportedly spread across six plastic bags and discarded across three different points in one of the city’s avenues. At press time, local authorities have not identified the dismembered man’s identity.
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