SUMMARY

Los Choneros and Los Chone Killers, Los Lobos, Los Pipos and Los Tiguerones were prison gangs operating Ecuador in 2021.

Until the end of December 2020 Los Chone Killers, Los Lobos, Los Pipos and Los Tiguerones were allies of Los Choneros. However the assassination of Jorge Luis Zambrano, alias Rasquiña, leader of Los Choneros, sparked in group fighting over leadership and Los Tiguerones, Los Chone Killers and Los Pipos, turned against Los Choneros.

In February 2021 there were clashes in three of Ecuador’s largest prisons in the cities of Guayaquil, Cuenca and Latacunga resulting in over 100 casualties, most of them in Litoral prison in Guayaquil. Later on that year, there were clashes again in Guayaquil Los Choneros – Los Lobos resulting in the death of 186 prisoners.

The non-state conflict between Los Choneros and Los Chone Killers, Los Lobos, Los Pipos and Los Tiguerones was first included in UCDP data in 2021. In February of that year, in prison fighting between these gangs had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.