The leaders of some of the most powerful gangs in Ecuador have opened up on how their organizations and rivals are able to hold on to power inside the prison that was the site of the deadliest riot in the country's history last month.
The Guayaquil Penitentiary Complex is overrun by six ruthless gangs that have been able to exert their influence over the Guayas Regional Jail and the Litoral Penitentiary, where a turf war erupted the morning of September 28, leaving 118 prisoners dead.
While the Guayas Regional Jail is under the total control of Los Choneros, the prison atmosphere at the Litoral Penitentiary is a bit more complex, where six gangs have a say over the day-to-day lives of an entire inmate population spread out across 12 pavilions, according to a report by Ecuadorian digital news outlet "La Posta.
DailyMail.com contacted Ecuador 's Attorney General’s Office with a list of questions but they have not commented.
Under José Adolfo 'Fito' Macías Villamar and Alexander 'Junior' Roldán Paredes, Los Choneros, a faction linked to Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's old Sinaloa Cartel, has a stronghold over five pavilions at the Guayaquil jail, which is located about 260 miles from the capital, Quito.
Macías Villamar and Roldán Paredes have shared the gang's leadership since 2018 extradition of Edison Prado, also known at the 'Pablo Escobar of Ecuador,' to the United States. He was accused by the Department of Justice of trafficking 250 tons of cocaine between 2016 and 2017.
The Latin Kings criminal network, led by Carlos Manuel Macías Saverio, operates two pavilions.
The Tiguerones, who are led by William Joffre Alcívar Bautista and tied to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, control a pavilion and are considered Los Choneros's main rival. Alcívar Bautista reportedly ordered an unsuccessful hit against Macías Villamar in February.
Antonio Benjamín Camacho Pacheco's gang, the Chone Killers, are a close ally of Los Choneros and run their own pavilion.
The Lobos, who are led by Wilmer Geovanny Chavarría Barre from the prison, and a sixth faction led by a gang member known as Samir, each control one.
José Adolfo 'Fito' Macías Villamar, is one of the two leaders of Los Choneros, a gang linked to Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel
Alexander 'Junior' Roldán Paredes told La Posta that removing him and José Adolfo 'Fito' Macías Villamar - co-leaders of the Los Choneros gang - from the Guayaquil Penitentiary Complex could lead to riots similar to the one at center's Litoral Penitentiary on September 28 when 118 inmates were murdered
An aerial view of the Litoral Penitentiary at the Guayaquil Penitentiary Complex in Guayaquil, Ecuador
According to Macías Villamar, who is serving a 30-year murder sentence at the Guayas Regional Jail, the criminal groups operate at will by bribing prison guards and police officers with $80 to $100 a day.
By having the guards and cops on
