Gunmen in Fake Military Uniforms Kill 12 Spectators At Cockfight in Ecuador

Men dressed in fake military uniforms opened fire on unarmed spectators at a cockfight in rural Ecuador, killing 12 people and harming several others. 

Footage of the attack in the rural community of La Valencia showed a group of at least five men entering the cockfight ring with automatic rifles and opening fire while people dove for cover, the BBC and CBS reported, citing authorities. 

“We have 12 people deceased as a result of an armed attack by a criminal group,” Renan Miller Rivera, a police colonel, said in a statement to CBS. Adding that several people were injured, without adding a specific number.

Police detained four people, including one “target of intermediate value” allegedly involved with the organized criminal group “R7,” national police chief Victor Hugo Zarate wrote on social media. 

The attackers were dressed in fake military uniforms, a common tactic of criminal gangs in the country, which averaged a killing every hour at the start of the year as cartels fight for control over cocaine routes that pass through Ecuador, CBS reported. 

After the attack, police found “military-style uniforms” and two abandoned cars on a nearby highway, Rivera told the outlet. One of the cars had been set on fire, while another had been overturned. 

Soon after, police released a video showing them recovering evidence hidden under bags and tree branches, CBS reported. In addition to the uniforms, police found eight rifles, four pistols, three shotguns, eight magazines, 11 cell phones, ballistic helmets and tactical gloves. 

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Due to its location, Ecuador is a major transit country for illegal narcotics, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Weak political institutions, a dollarized economy, and a free trade agreement with Europe have turned Ecuador into the ideal location for the transshipment of cocaine in South America,” CSIS wrote in a commentary about Ecuador.

Ecuador is home to around 20 criminal gangs involved in trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. According to reporting by CBS, these gangs have plunged the country into violence because of the rapid spread of cartels that use their ports to ship drugs into the United States and Europe.

A criminal investigation has been launched by the provincial authorities, the outlet said.