A Short History of Durán, Ecuador
Durán was a sparsely populated, remote, agricultural outpost of the municipality of Guayaquil before the completion of the national railway…
Durán, Ecuador’s New Crime Capital
Durán, a municipality of over 300,000 inhabitants in Ecuador’s coastal Guayas province, has undergone a dramatic transformation from a thriving…
Ecuador Gangs Target Prison Chiefs to Regain Control
The murder of the head of Ecuador’s largest men’s prison appears to be the latest act of violence by prison…
How Ecuador’s Criminals Are Taking Advantage of Private Security Firms
Private security companies have surged in Ecuador as crime has intensified, but mounting evidence of criminal infiltration in the industry…
Ecuador’s Kidnapping Epidemic, Told by a Survivor
“In those moments, I swear to you, you can’t even remember your mother’s name,” Felipe* told InSight Crime about the…
As Government Pressure Mounts, Ecuador’s Armed Gangs Strike Gold
After a 24-hour search party in the early days of July, police and military were met with gunfire as they…
As Government Pressure Mounts, Ecuador’s Gangs Strike Gold
After a 24-hour search party in the early days of July, police and military were met with gunfire as they…
Convictions in Ecuador Political Assassination, But No Clarity
Last week a judge in Ecuador sentenced five people convicted in the high-profile 2023 murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio,…
The Pioneering Albanian Trafficker Who Took Ecuador’s Drug Trade By Storm
Around midnight on February 6, 2024, Ecuador’s National Police stormed a beige, two-story villa in a luxurious gated community on…
Cocaine Surge Fuels Violence as Opium Falls: UN Drug Report 2024
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its annual drug report, highlighting the manifold destruction caused by…