Explosives-laden drone 'neutralized' on roof of Ecuador prison

Ecuadoran police defused an explosives-laden drone Tuesday on the roof of a prison in a complex that has been the scene of gruesome inmate massacres committed by rival gangs.

The prison holds some of Ecuador's most dangerous criminals, including six Colombians suspected in the killing of presidential hopeful Fernando Villavicencio last month. The minister posted a video hours later of the device being blown up, all but destroying the roof of the detention facility.

He said a specialized team "neutralized the drone," and all prisoners in the affected area had been transferred somewhere else for their safety.Rival gangs with links to Colombian and Mexican cartels regularly clash in prisons, with more than 430 inmates killed since 2021, often leaving a trail of burned and dismembered bodies.The homicide rate in the country of 18.3 million rose to a record 26 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022, almost double the previous year and higher than the rates in Colombia, Mexico or Brazil.