The once-peaceful country has seen brutality rise at a frightening pace in recent years as ever-more powerful gangs and cartels battle police, and one another, for supremacy.
MailOnline examines some examples of the bloodshed plaguing the crime-hit province of Esmeraldas in northern Ecuador as warring drug gangs bring the bustling coastal city to its knees
Three Friends Found Dead In Ecuador: Bodies of three young friends were found buried near a river in Ecuador with torture marks on them. The girls were on a beach trip before they went missing unexpectedly.