A new brawl in a prison in Ecuador leaves at least 15 dead and 20 injured

At least 15 people have died and 20 people have been injured in a new brawl in a prison in Ecuador, after the Ecuadorian National Police had to act to quell some clashes.

Around 1:30 p.m. (local time) this Monday, a shooting was recorded inside the Cotopaxi prison, in the north of the country, as reported by 'El Comercio'.

The National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Prisoners of Liberty (SNAI) has confirmed that specialized groups of the National Police entered the prison during the afternoon and at night they have regained control, confirming, however, the death of 15 people to date. the moment.

Among the dead people is Leandro Norero, alias 'El Patron', who was criminally prosecuted in Peru for drug trafficking from 2014 to 2020, when his lawyers showed false evidence of his alleged death from COVID-19, allowing him to leave prison, has picked up 'El Universal'.

"We must report that, unfortunately, there are people deprived of their liberty who have died and people who have been injured. From what we can know, preliminarily, the citizen Leandro Norero would be among the victims," ​​the deputy director of the SNAI, Jorge, has detailed in statements to the media. Flowers.

Around 8:00 p.m. (local time), Flores has confirmed that the shooting took place due to a dispute between different criminal groups, according to what the aforementioned media has learned.

In February and October 2021, two prison massacres took place in the Cotopaxi prison. The first was recorded on February 23, 2021 and there were 79 deaths, while another 22 people died in different prisons in the region on July 21, 2021. .

In April 2022, 20 inmates were murdered in the Turi prison in a fight linked by the Police to a dispute between gangs, as in the one on Monday.

The government of Guillermo Lasso has promised to reform the prison system, marked recurrently by incidents that even claim dozens of lives. Only last year some 300 inmates would have died, for which the Executive has proposed a series of initiatives, including a prison census.