They found a decapitated man in a neighborhood of Guayaquil

A horror scene lived by the inhabitants of Bastion Popular, an urban neighborhood in northern Guayaquil, in Ecuador. Last weekend, neighbors found the body of a man who had been decapitated. The body was wrapped in black covers and sheets. The head of the murderer was found a few meters from the body. This is the second decapitated man to appear in the neighborhood in less than two months.

The beheaded man would be between 30 and 40 years old and his identity is still unknown. Colonel Henry Herrera, head of the National Directorate for Investigation of Crimes Against Life in Zone 8, indicated that the body “was in a condition of plastic packaging, tied to its limbs and detached from its head, which was lifted by Criminalística. The limbs were built in.” The murderer did not record bullet hits.

When the residents of the sector found the body, the man had died less than eight hours ago, according to the crime technicians.

A message was found next to the body, as if imitating a “communiqué”. The pamphlet contains warnings against some criminal gangs operating in that area. The statement even had a photograph and descriptions alluding to alias Fito, the head of Los Choneros, Ecuador's largest criminal megaband.

For the authorities, the message found at the scene could be a distracting element in trying to divert attention from the true motive of the heinous crime.

On February 20, the inhabitants of the People's Bastion found another man beheaded. The police report explains that the decapitation of that person occurred through an explosive device.

The urban neighborhood of Bastion Popular is one of the epicenters of violent deaths in Guayaquil. It is common for violent deaths to be reported every week related to fights between gangs that control microtrafficking in the sector. The attacks have resulted in collateral victims such as women and children.

Guayaquil, which is part of Zone 8 also made up of Samborondón and Durán, is one of the cities with the highest rate of violent deaths. In the first quarter of 2022, at least 328 homicides were recorded.

The violence of drug trafficking

Government officials argue that the increase in violent deaths is directly related to drug seizures and the fight against drug trafficking undertaken by President Guillermo Lasso's administration. In the first months of this year, violent deaths have tripled compared to 2021 and drug seizures have also doubled.

Since February 2022, there have been shocking scenes never seen before in Ecuador in the South American country. For example, so far, three bodies have been observed hanging on pedestrian bridges in different cities of the country. This practice is known to Mexican cartels and has multiple meanings such as impunity, threats and territorial strife between gangs.

Also in February, a man's head was found in front of a port terminal in Ecuador. Although the country is not considered a drug producer, it is one of the routes through which drugs are sent to Europe, Central America and North America. Narcotics are hidden in containers that leave ports on the Ecuadorian coast.

The bodies that have been hung or decapitated and have been identified correspond to persons who have criminal records related to drug trafficking.

According to a scientific article by researcher Nuria Carton de Grammont, from Concordia University, the bodies hung “represent territorial marks that identify a territory marked with the blood and bodies of those who fall dead in the hands of organized crime.” The exposure of the dead in such a grotesque and morbid way becomes “marks that map death that highlights internal struggles over the narcotics market and control of territory”.

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