Suspected gang leader shot dead in flower bouquet ambush at airport

REUTERS/Cesar Munoz

An Ecuadorean man, who police accuse of leading a faction of one of the country's most feared criminal gangs, has been shot dead as he was leaving the airport in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil.

Security footage shows two young men waiting outside the arrivals terminal holding stuffed toys and flowers before one of them approaches the victim, pulls his gun from behind a teddy and shoots him point-blank.

Police have detained two teenagers in connection with the crime, the latest in a widespread wave of gang violence.

This latest deadly shooting came just a day after Ecuador's president declared a fresh state of emergency in 10 provinces, including Guayas, where the attack unfolded.

Ecuador's interior minister, John Reimberg, identified the victim of Wednesday's attack as 39-year-old Carlos Alberto Suástegui Villanueva, who he said was the leader of the Los Águilas gang in El Triunfo, a region east of Guayaquil.

Los Águilas, which was designated as a "terrorist organisation" by Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa in 2024, is accused of being heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion.

It is one of several gangs whose criminal activities have turned Ecuador from a relatively safe haven to a crime hotspot with one of the highest murder rates in the Western Hemisphere over recent years.

Ecuador is located between Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest producers of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, and has become the key corridor for the drug to be smuggled to the US, Europe and beyond.

While Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, has been particularly badly hit by drug and gang-related violence, the daylight attack right outside the airport's arrival hall has shocked locals.

Newspaper El Universo described how passengers scattered in panic as the shots rang out.

Police said one bystander was injured in the attack and video footage of the incident showed a man pulling a suitcase collapsing on the floor as the shooting unfolded.

The security footage also captures the first gunman running away while the second fires another shot at Suástegui.

The arrivals hall was closed for more than two hours while forensic experts and police carried out investigations at the scene.

REUTERS/Cesar Munoz

President Noboa has been trying to quell the gang violence by declaring states of emergency, which give the security forces extra powers such as being able to search homes without a search warrant provided they have reasonable grounds to suspect illicit activity.

Despite these measure, the murder rate reached a record high in 2025.

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