April 14 of this year was the last report of severe and violent incidents that were recorded in the Center for Deprivation of Liberty Zone 8, also known as the Penitentiary in Primorje. A massacre in which twelve prisoners were killed in a violent and merciless manner.

This added twelve massacres since 2021 and about 450 prisoners killed in clashes with gangs that control the large pavilions of the country’s main prison centers.

During the past weekend, bullets once again rumbled in this prison complex, and the result was three gunshot wounds in Saturday’s riots, the National Service for the Comprehensive Care of Adults Deprived of Liberty and Juvenile Offenders (SNAI) confirmed, adding that this, the most dangerous prison in the country, is already under control. But at dawn yesterday, the bullets returned, accompanied by explosions that could be heard several kilometers around.

And despite the fact that the SNAI statement showed that “security protocols remain permanently active… and that constant monitoring is carried out through the United Command Center…” the public’s question is repeated: how do weapons and explosives still enter this and other prisons in Ecuador?

The latest operations and seizures in prisons have surprised. They found not only weapons and drugs, but also various household appliances such as stoves, freezers, air conditioners, televisions, video games, cell phones and a long list of technological devices for accessing the Internet.

Having control and sovereignty over 36 prisons in the country and guaranteeing the lives of 31,321 persons deprived of liberty is the task of the state. However, it remains an unsolved task and a big challenge for the new state administration to succeed the current government, which has faced eleven out of twelve prison massacres in two years. (OR)