Ecuador: Hitmen stormed into an operating room and murdered a patient.

Reference image. The man who was murdered in the operating room had previously been injured. Pixabay. Violence linked to organized crime has once again shaken Ecuador. On the night of Sunday, May 10th, a group of hitmen entered the surgical area of a hospital in Bahía de Caráquez, in the coastal province of Manabí, and murdered a man who was receiving medical attention after being injured in a previous armed attack. The incident occurred after 7:00 PM at the Miguel H. Alcívar hospital, located in the canton of Sucre, and caused shock among doctors, patients, and family members who were at the health facility. According to preliminary reports, the attackers managed to bypass security controls and reached the operating room, where the victim was undergoing emergency surgery. According to information released by local media, the man had been transferred to the hospital after being injured in a shootout in Pedernales, another Manabí canton located about 90 kilometers north of Bahía de Caráquez. Hours after surviving that first attack, he was located and executed inside the medical center. As of the morning of Monday, May 11th, neither the National Police nor the Attorney General's Office had revealed the identity of the victim or reported any arrests in connection with this crime. Reference image. What happened at the hospital was not the only case. (Machala Móvil) The murder inside an operating room reveals the level of penetration of criminal organizations in areas traditionally considered safe, such as hospitals. It also exposes the vulnerability of healthcare personnel, who in provinces affected by violence have been forced to treat patients under threat without necessarily having reinforced protection protocols. But that was not the only violent incident recorded in Manabí during the Mother's Day weekend. Hours earlier, in the canton of San Vicente, two brothers were shot and killed shortly after leaving a health center. Both had been transferred to the medical facility after being injured in an armed attack that occurred in the Moyuyal community, in the Canoa parish. According to preliminary information published by Ecuavisa, the two men managed to receive medical attention, but were intercepted by hitmen as they were leaving the premises. The attackers shot them repeatedly, causing their deaths. Authorities have not released the identities of the victims or publicly stated whether the two attacks are related. Both incidents occurred during the curfew in Ecuador. EFE/ Gerardo Menoscal. The two incidents that occurred in Bahía de Caráquez and San Vicente confirm a pattern that has been repeated in Ecuador: people injured in armed attacks are subsequently murdered in hospitals or in their surroundings, in what authorities consider to be settling of scores between criminal organizations. The province of Manabí is one of the territories most affected by the expansion of drug trafficking and disputes between criminal gangs. Its extensive coastline and the existence of artisanal and fishing ports have made it a strategic point for the storage and shipment of drugs to Central America, Mexico, and the United States. Cantons such as Manta, Portoviejo, Chone, Pedernales, Sucre, and San Vicente have recorded a sustained increase in homicides, kidnappings, extortion, and attacks against public officials in recent years. The same week, a lawyer from the SNAI (prison system) was murdered outside a women's prison in Guayaquil. (Ecuavisa) In April, for example, two prison guards linked to the Bahía de Caráquez prison were murdered within days of each other, which raised alarms about the control that criminal organizations maintain in that area. The violence recorded in Manabí occurred during a weekend marked by multiple armed attacks in various provinces of the country. In Guayaquil, three people were murdered in the city center in an attack that, according to police reports, involved more than 50 shots. In Machala, three other people died in a ceviche restaurant while celebrating Mother's Day. Ecuador closed 2025 with 9,216 intentional homicides, the highest number in its recent history, equivalent to one murder per hour, according to official data cited by local media. Although the government of Daniel Noboa has maintained the strategy of "internal armed conflict" and has deployed military and police operations in several provinces, the attacks continue to affect even spaces such as hospitals and health centers.