Montecristi, Ecuador: They Were Killed Mexican Style

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The victims were tortured and burned. At the scene, a piece of paper was found that had written: ‘The New Generation Cartel Is Present’.

The wave of unbridled violence and blood splattered Río de Oro, a community from the Montecristi district, in the province of Manabí, after confirming an atrocious finding. Four bodies piled up, one on top of the other, were found on a dirt road.

But the most alarming thing about this fact was that the crime had the characteristics of Mexican crime. At the scene, the Police found a piece of paper that read: 'New Generation Cartel Is Present'.

Everything happened around 02:30 yesterday. At that time, the locals heard gunshots as well as the screeching of tires and a vehicle engine.

However, it was not until 04:30, when a group of day laborers who were on their way to work in the mountains of the area came across the dead. It was at that moment that the peasants put aside their agricultural activities to contact the authorities and tell them about the discovery.

“The truth is that this has never been seen here before. It is something that worries us, we are a peaceful people, but this makes anyone's hair stand on end”, expressed one of the locals, still nervous.

The specialized units of Criminalistics and the National Directorate of Violent Deaths (Dinased) were deployed in that remote area, located about 600 meters from the main road of the Portoviejo - Montecristi highway.

Colonel Fabary Montalvo, police chief in charge of the Manabí subzone, indicated that bullet holes were found in the four bodies, produced by a 9-millimeter caliber firearm. They also had traces of an unfinished burning. “Our agents have raised 18 ballistic evidence.

Identifications of the citizens were found, which will be checked to confirm their names.

Regarding the criminal message found, Montalvo said that an investigation will be carried out to confirm the culprits of this multiple murder. With this, it will be possible to determine to which criminal group they belong to.

“All the evidence has been transferred under chain of custody to the warehouses of the Judicial Police. In the course of the investigations we were able to determine the motive,” the officer specified.

The bodies were transferred to the Manta Forensic Center. Several citizens approached this outpost, located in the Urbirríos citadel, intending to remove the bodies. The relatives were grief stricken by what happened and preferred not to give statements to the media.

In the Manabí province violent deaths have risen to 130. The province is under a state of emergency; however, the violent acts have not stopped. Since the decree, seven crimes have been registered: one in the 24 de Mayo sector, two in Chone and the last four in Montecristi.

Police confirmed that one of the deceased had a past criminal record.

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