5 Severed Heads — and a Chilling Warning — Discovered at Tropical Resort Beachfront By Sean Neumann

Beachgoers discovered five severed human heads hanging from ropes along a beach in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador on Sunday in an apparent violent warning between rival drug trafficking groups, according to reports.

The gruesome scene was discovered Sunday along a beach in Puerto Lopez, a small fishing port on the western coast of Ecuador, according to reports citing local police from the Associated Press, BBC, and CBS News.

Local Ecuadorian media outlets published photos of the bloody scene, which showed a wooden sign placed next to the severed heads featuring a warning: the same fate would come to others who keep threatening and extorting local fisherman, according to the AP.

“The town belongs to us,” the sign read, according to CBS News. “Keep robbing fishermen and demanding vaccine cards, we already have you identified.”

“Vaccine cards” are reportedly a local reference to protection payments, according to the outlet. 

The AP reported that the Puerto Lopez beachfront is a popular whale watching destination for tourists.

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The AP reported that local police have said an ongoing territorial dispute between rival drug trafficking groups was to blame for the violent incident.

Local authorities have reportedly not yet identified all five of the victims, according to BBC, though they range in ages between 20 and 34 years old. One of the men identified by local authorities reportedly had a criminal history, the outlet reported.

BBC reported that the five bodies belonging to the severed heads have not yet been located by local authorities.

The Puerto Lopez beachfront is no stranger to gang violence, according to CBS. The outlet reported that nine people, including a baby, were killed on the beach last month during instances of violence which local police attributed to the ongoing territorial dispute between the groups.

Ecuador is coming off its most violent year in the country’s history with more than 9,000 recorded homicides in 2025, according to the AP.