In 2023, Ecuador recorded its most violent year in history.
The nation’s homicide rate overtook historically violent countries like Honduras, Mexico, and Colombia, even as its fragmenting criminal groups preyed on average citizens to finance their internal battles.
Amid this turmoil, Durán, a southern city just across a river from Guayaquil, emerged as an epicenter of violence. The municipality saw Ecuador’s most extreme swing in violence as criminal groups waged a brutal battle for key posts in the municipal government and control of communities whose vulnerable populations form a captive pool of recruits, victims, and drug users.
This investigation is a culmination of months of fieldwork in Guayaquil and Durán and over 150 interviews. It breaks down the dynamics of organized crime in Durán and provides important context for understanding Ecuador’s national security downturn.
Read the investigation >
