At least 31 inmates died during a violent prison riot in southern Ecuador on Sunday, November 9, 2025, marking another episode in a series of deadly clashes that have plagued the country’s penitentiary system. The violence at the Machala prison in El Oro province unfolded in two separate incidents, leaving dozens more injured and raising fresh questions about security within Ecuador’s overcrowded facilities.
According to Ecuador’s SNAI prison authority, 27 of those found dead had died by asphyxiation or hanging, while four others were killed in an armed riot. Reports indicate that about 36 inmates sustained injuries during the violence, along with one police officer. The exact circumstances surrounding the deaths remain under investigation as forensic medical personnel continue working at the scene.
The violence began around 3 a.m. local time and was triggered by plans to transfer inmates to a new maximum-security facility in another province. Interior Minister John Reimberg explained the sequence of events in an interview with Radio Centro Ecuador, describing two separate clashes between rival gangs within the facility.
The first attack involved the criminal group Los Lobos being targeted by a breakaway gang known as Sao-Box in the early morning hours. This initial confrontation resulted in four deaths and approximately 36 wounded inmates. Following this incident, Los Lobos carried out a retaliatory attack against Sao-Box later in the day.
“In retaliation, Lobos asphyxiated members of the other organization to avoid leaving signs of violence on their bodies,” Reimberg stated. Prison guards discovered the 27 bodies around 6 p.m. while conducting routine inspections of cells that both groups shared.
Elite police teams entered the prison immediately after the violence erupted and regained control of the facility. The SNAI prison authority noted that officials, operational teams, and forensic medical personnel continue working at the scene to fully clarify the facts surrounding the incident.
The Machala prison has been a flashpoint for violence in recent months. In September, 14 inmates died at the same facility in what authorities described as gang-related fighting. Just days after that incident, another 17 people were killed in a prison riot in Esmeraldas, a city in northern Ecuador near the border with Colombia.
Ecuador’s prisons have become among the deadliest in Latin America due to overcrowding, corruption, and weak control by the authorities. Criminal gangs connected to drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico have proliferated within the facilities, with rival groups battling for dominance and territorial control.
Since 2021, more than 500 people have died in prison riots across Ecuador. The scale of the violence reached a critical point last year when a series of coordinated riots across multiple prisons led to 150 prison guards being taken hostage. President Daniel Noboa’s administration has pledged to take a tough stance on crime and has blamed the prison violence on rival gangs fighting for control. The government’s response includes the construction of new maximum-security facilities designed to separate gang members and reduce opportunities for violent confrontations.
Interior Minister Reimberg suggested that inmates across the country have been causing chaos to prevent authorities from transferring them to the new maximum-security prison, which had just begun accepting inmates. The planned reorganization of inmates was specifically cited as the trigger for Sunday’s violence. President Noboa announced on November 11, “The first 300 most dangerous inmates have already been transferred to the Encuentro Prison.”
Los Lobos has emerged as one of the most powerful criminal organizations operating within Ecuador’s prison system. The gang’s influence extends beyond prison walls, and its activities have contributed to broader security challenges facing the country. The breakaway faction Sao-Box formed after disputes over management within the larger organization, according to authorities.
When questioned about why rival gang members were housed in the same cells, Reimberg noted that the groups were initially part of the same organization before Sao-Box split from Los Lobos. He did not specify why prison officials had not separated the factions after the split occurred.
Less than a month after the November 9 riot, violence erupted there again on December 7, 2025, killing 13 more prisoners. Ecuador’s prison agency, SNAI, reported that the latest incident began when drones dropped explosive devices outside the facility around 4 p.m., followed by a second blast shortly after. Local outlets said the explosions were meant to divert security forces while a riot broke out inside. Early reports indicated the victims—thought to be members of the Los Lobos gang—may have been suffocated with plastic bags, though autopsies were still underway.
The December unrest brought the death toll at Machala to at least 58 inmates over just two months, deepening Ecuador’s severe prison crisis, which has claimed at least 663 lives since 2020, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. On November 26, the IACHR called on Ecuador to take concrete steps to address the ongoing violence, while lawmakers from the ruling party introduced a constitutional amendment in early December aimed at limiting access to sentence reductions.
The repeated massacres drew global concern as Ecuador continued to register Latin America’s highest homicide rate for the third straight year, with gang-related killings increasing 42% in the first eleven months of 2025 compared to 2024.
