The Ecuador Crisis
A neutral, source-attributed briefing on Ecuador's security crisis — a sharp rise in gang and cartel violence declared an 'internal armed conflict.'
Last updated: 2026-09-21 · Evergreen briefing — the live map and the headlines below carry the latest developments.
Key locations: Ecuador Crisis
Ecuador Crisis map: control status, coordinates and every tracked location →
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Quitocity-0.1807, -78.4678
Capital of Ecuador and seat of its government.
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Guayaquilport-2.1894, -79.8891
Ecuador's largest city and principal port, accounting for roughly a quarter of the country's recorded gang violence events.
Control: Contested among multiple gangs, including Los Lobos, Los Tiguerones, Los Fenix, and Los Igualitos — Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), as of 2025-06-03Stale
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Durancity-2.1710, -79.8362
City adjacent to Guayaquil with one of Ecuador's highest homicide rates, part of the gang-related violence surge that led to a nationwide state of emergency in 2023.
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Esmeraldasport0.9682, -79.6517
Northern Pacific port near the Colombian border, one of the coastal provinces where the bulk of Ecuador's recorded gang violence has concentrated.
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Mantaport-0.9677, -80.7089
Major Pacific fishing and container port in Manabi province, a coastal region affected by rising gang violence since 2024.
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Lago Agrio (Nueva Loja)border0.0894, -76.8875
Capital of Sucumbios province near the Colombian border, in an oil-producing Amazon region where gang presence has expanded alongside illegal mining and cross-border trafficking.
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Tulcanborder0.8118, -77.7175
Ecuadorian border city on the crossing to Colombia's Nariño department.
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Huaquillasborder-3.4767, -80.2331
Ecuador's principal land border crossing with Peru, a route used for both legal trade and smuggling.
Key facts
- The Ecuador Crisis is a criminal conflict in South America, currently Active (High intensity).
- Ecuador has experienced a dramatic surge in violence as transnational-linked gangs fight over trafficking routes and prisons, prompting the government to declare an internal armed conflict and deploy the military.
- Key actors: Ecuadorian state forces, Criminal gangs, Prison-based networks.
- What's at stake: Public security, Drug trafficking, State control.
Reported deaths
UCDP best estimate, summed by the month each event began, across Ecuador. UCDP's high and low estimates for the same period are 244 and 239. A further 189 could not be attributed to a side or to civilians. Candidate data is preliminary and is revised in UCDP's annual release; it counts deaths from organized violence only, not hunger or disease. See how this is counted, including how theaters map to countries, or compare the civilian share across every theater.
Latest developments
Headlines pulled automatically from Google News and linking to primary reporting; last refreshed 2026-09-21.
- 1w ago
- 1w ago
- Jul 29
- Mar 16
- May 4Ecuador Says Extortion Is Down. The Reality Is More Complicated.insightcrime.org
- Aug 13Ecuador: Daniel Noboa’s Crackdown at a CrossroadsAmericas Quarterly
- Nov 29
- 3w ago
Overview
Ecuador has experienced a dramatic surge in violence as transnational-linked gangs fight over trafficking routes and prisons, prompting the government to declare an internal armed conflict and deploy the military.
This page is an evergreen orientation. Figures and control change continually — confirm the latest with the primary sources listed below.
Key actors
- Ecuadorian state forces — military and police.
- Criminal gangs — including groups linked to foreign cartels.
- Prison-based networks — driving much of the violence.
- Civilian population — affected by violence and insecurity.
What's at stake
- Public security: a rapid rise in homicides and attacks.
- Drug trafficking: Ecuador's role as a transit hub.
- State control: prisons and territory contested by gangs.
- Regional spillover: links to Colombian and Mexican networks.
Ecuador Crisis explained: the key dynamics
From peaceful to violent
Once one of the region's safer countries, Ecuador has seen a dramatic surge in violence as transnational-linked gangs fight over cocaine-trafficking routes, with homicide rates rising sharply.
Prisons as battlegrounds
Much of the violence is rooted in the prison system, where rival gangs have fought deadly battles for control, with riots and massacres spilling into the wider country.
The 'internal armed conflict' declaration
Facing the escalation, the government declared an internal armed conflict and deployed the military against named gangs, formalizing a militarized security response.
Timeline: how the Ecuador crisis unfolded
- 2018–20 — Shifting cocaine routes increase the presence of transnational trafficking networks.
- 2021 — Deadly prison massacres signal escalating gang warfare.
- 2023 — High-profile violence, including a presidential candidate's assassination, shocks the country.
- 2024–26 — The government declares an internal armed conflict and militarizes the response.
How this conflict is mapped and tracked
Ecuador's rapid escalation is reflected in both ACLED event data and national homicide statistics, which together capture a conflict that blends criminal violence with a militarized state response. Prison violence and trafficking dynamics make some incidents hard to verify; figures are estimates.
For how these datasets differ, see ACLED vs UCDP vs CFR and our guide to conflict-tracking tools.
Drug Violence in Ecuador
Ecuador was long considered one of Latin America's more stable and peaceful countries. Beginning in 2020, however, competition between drug trafficking organizations — principally Los Choneros and Los Lobos, both with ties to Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG factions — escalated into open warfare. Ecuador's strategic position as a transit country between Colombian and Peruvian cocaine production zones and Atlantic shipping routes made it a prize worth fighting for.
President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict in January 2024 and deployed the military against gangs. A dramatic prison riot and the simultaneous storming of a live TV broadcast studio by masked gunmen in January 2024 signaled the acute breakdown of state control. Ecuador recorded over 7,000 homicides in 2024, a homicide rate approaching 40 per 100,000 — among the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
Military operations have produced arrests and disruption to gang hierarchies but have not reversed the structural conditions — poverty, corruption, institutional weakness, and geographic position — that underlie the conflict. Over 1,000 more people were killed in 2025 than in 2024, indicating the crisis has not peaked.
How it fits the global picture
This is one of 29 active armed conflict theaters tracked on the Global Armed Conflicts Map. Explore related and concurrent conflicts:
Frequently asked questions
Why did Ecuador declare an internal armed conflict?
A sharp escalation in gang and cartel violence led the government to declare an internal armed conflict and deploy the military. Confirm the current status with primary sources such as ACLED, UCDP, and the CFR Global Conflict Tracker.
What is driving Ecuador's violence?
Transnational-linked gangs fighting over drug-trafficking routes and prison control have driven the surge.
How can I follow it live?
Use the interactive conflict map to see this theater alongside 28 other active conflicts, filter by intensity and region, and open intelligence briefings for each.
Why did violence explode in Ecuador?
Ecuador became a key transit hub for cocaine, drawing transnational trafficking networks and local gangs into deadly competition over routes and prisons, overwhelming a previously calmer security environment.
What did Ecuador's internal armed conflict declaration mean?
It allowed the government to deploy the military against designated criminal gangs as armed adversaries, formalizing a wartime-style security footing against the cartels.
Source provenance
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) 475 days · as of 2025-06-03
- News feed 0 days · as of 2026-09-21
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-21 | Headlines refreshed | News feed |
| 2025-06-03 | Guayaquil control updated | Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) |