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Bathers found five severed heads displayed on a beach in Ecuador in what appears to be a warning to gang members who have been threatening local fishermen.<\/p>\n
The gruesome discovery was made on Sunday on the beachfront in Puerto L\u00f3pez, a town which has been wracked by gang violence.<\/p>\n
Next to the body parts, locals found a sign threatening those stealing from and extorting fishermen with the same fate.<\/p>\n
Ports and towns by the Pacific Ocean are among those worst hit by gangs which smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to the US and Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Police have identified the remains as those of five men who had been reported missing days earlier. They ranged between 20 and 34 years in age.<\/p>\n
Officials told local media one of them had a criminal record for gun possession. <\/p>\n
Their bodies have not yet been located. <\/p>\n
According to figures released by the interior ministry, 2025 was the most violent on record in Ecuador, with homicide rates reaching an all-time high at 9,176 murders.<\/p>\n
Ecuador – which is located between Colombia and the Peru, the world’s two largest producers of cocaine – has become a key transit country for illegal drugs.<\/p>\n
Local gangs have forged alliances with powerful Mexican and Colombian drug cartels, counternarcotics experts say.<\/p>\n
As well as smuggling drugs, the criminal gangs force local businesses to pay “protection money” and attack those who refuse.<\/p>\n
On 28 December, six people – including a two-year-old child – were killed and another three injured when gunmen opened fire at a group of people standing on the beachfront in Puerto L\u00f3pez.<\/p>\n
Police said the shooting and another the previous day, in which another three people were killed, were triggered by a battle for control of the town between two rival factions of the Los Choneros gang.<\/p>\n
Los Choneros is one of the main drivers of the deadly gang violence which has rocked Ecuador.<\/p>\n
In September, the US state department added the group to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations.<\/p>\n
Its leader, known as Fito, was extradited to the United States in July of last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n