By AFP | 2025-07-21

GENERAL VILLAMIL PLAYAS, Ecuador -- At least nine individuals were shot dead July 19 while playing pool in a tourist city in southwestern Ecuador, the country's prosecutor's office said.

A group of armed men opened fire at a bar in a working-class neighborhood of General Villamil Playas, a coastal city in the southern Guayas province and destination for local tourists.

The Ecuadorian prosecutor's office said on X that "armed individuals entered the establishment and shot at those present."

Viral images on social media showed at least nine bloodied bodies lying on the floor around several pool tables.

The attackers were armed with automatic rifles, local media said.

Police Colonel Jhanon Varela told media that two victims were injured and were treated at a local hospital.

Authorities could identify only one body at the scene.

"Unfortunately, when the police arrive, many of those affected by this event are removed from the scene by residents and family members," Varela said.

"It is presumed that there may be more victims."

'Won't surrender'

One of the victims was a coach at a provincial football school, Guayas Prefect Marcela Aguinaga said.

Aguinaga wrote on X: "Violence... seeks to bring us to our knees, silence us, and accustom us to horror. But we will not stay silent. Nor will we surrender."

The shooting comes as Ecuador experiences its most violent start to a year in recent history, according to statisticians.

In the first five months of 2025, Ecuador recorded 4,051 homicides, according to official figures.

Drug trafficking organizations have been multiplying in Ecuador, where the homicide rate rose from six per 100,000 residents in 2018 to 38 per 100,000 in 2024.

Ecuador's government extradited notorious drug lord Adolfo Macías, alias "Fito," to the United States on July 20, a month after his dramatic recapture following a 2024 escape from a maximum-security prison, the country's prison authority announced.

Fito arrived in New York state the night of July 20, according to Flightradar.

Despite the arrest of Ecuador's most powerful drug kingpin, gang-related violence continues to surge across the country.

This week, in the western province of Manabi, the stronghold of Fito and his gang, Los Choneros, at least 20 victims were killed in deadly violence in several cities, including Manta, where Fito was recaptured.

On July 19, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced increased security in Manta, one of Ecuador's main fishing ports, with 2,500 police officers "deployed at strategic points."

After his arrest, Fito agreed to be extradited to the United States, where prosecutors accuse him of cocaine and arms trafficking.

Once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, Ecuador has been plunged into crisis after years of expansion by transnational cartels that use its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.