Ecuador’s Most Violent City Battles Drug Gangs Escalating Warfare

Durán exists in Guayaquil’s shadows, a municipality troubled by fierce conflict between enemy gangs. This formerly quiet industrial town became a terror epicenter, where criminal groups fight to dominate because a worsening state of dread grips the area.

Rising Violence Grips Durán

Durán, a municipality in Ecuador near the busy port city of Guayaquil, has experienced a decline in heavy violence over the last several years. The place was somewhat normal previously, thanks to its industrial parks plus a small population of about 300,000. Durán has a connection to dread. Residents lock their doors before dark. Businesses struggle under the weight of threats and extortion, and police sirens from the mournful soundtrack to daily life.

According to the Ecuadorian authorities, this surge in brutality stems from a brutal turf war among criminal organizations, many of which are linked to international drug trafficking. These groups obtain funds from a complicated network of criminal actions. These actions included kidnapping plans and horrific killings that disturbed people.

Official numbers show a grim situation. For instance, in 2024, Ecuador had a homicide rate of 38.76 for every 100,000 people. This number worries because the nation was once comparatively calm versus some neighbors. Yet Durán’s numbers dwarf this national average. Its homicide rate soared to 145.98 per 100,000 residents in 2024, a chilling figure that catapulted Durán to the top of the global list of violent cities, surpassing even Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, which recorded 139.31 homicides per 100,000 people.

The sudden change affected residents who knew Durán all their lives and it devastated them. People met in area parks – they talked in the afternoon and children played. Few people go out now for fun. Because shootouts also kidnappings could happen, locals are careful. They must read the news before making simple trips to the store.

Local authorities, while determined to curb the violence, face formidable challenges. Different criminal outfits have splintered off from once-dominant organizations, igniting bloody clashes over territories to peddle drugs and extort businesses. The result: a relentless cycle of revenge killings, collateral damage, and paralyzing fear that grips every corner of Durán’s neighborhoods.

Gangs and Fragmentation

A key catalyst behind Durán’s criminal upheaval is the fracturing of one of the area’s most notorious gangs, the Chone Killers. In an interview with EFE, Santiago Gavilanes, chief of the Durán Police, explained how the group’s internal splits led to a chaotic scramble for power: “There is a fragmentation of the dominant criminal group here, the Chone Killers,” Gavilanes told EFE. “They are at war among themselves, trying to gain territories to sell drugs and extort businesses. They have become more violent and are creating collateral victims in the process.”

The Chone Killers’ fragmentation is partly attributed to police captures in recent months. Leaders have been removed, leaving power vacuums. Potential leaders fight for authority now, and this boosts cruelty as they try to hold land and income. Once only for known people or rich owners, they are common. Now, they are easy to do because ransom money is as small as $2,000.

“Now,” continued Gavilanes, “the gangs call businesses offering various services—vehicle maintenance, air-conditioning repair, telephone setup—and lure them in to kidnap them. We’ve seen ransoms set at $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000. In less than three days, we’ve had four releases.”

Many of these abductions have ended swiftly, thanks in part to targeted police operations, but the psychological toll on ordinary citizens is immense. Business owners have closed shops or shifted operations out of Durán entirely. Families lock themselves indoors after dusk. Even day-to-day tasks like maintenance appointments or deliveries have become fraught with danger.

Drug trafficking networks create a difficult situation. Because Durán sits beside the river, which gives it a connection to Guayaquil’s ports, it became a main spot for storing and moving narcotics. Gavilanes made clear that these factors support a lack of order, and he described Durán as “a warehouse for illegal activity.” This confluence of prime geography and weak infrastructure, combined with the internal war among gang factions, has turned everyday survival into an ever-present battle for many residents.

Terror Takes Root in Fincas Delia

A small example of Durán’s decline exists at Fincas Delia. This large area near the town’s border has roads that become muddy pools when it rains. The district is rife with irregular settlements lacking basic services like clean water and electricity. Criminal gangs, including the Chone Killers, have seized entire sectors, reselling plots of land to families desperate for housing. Once these families move in, they face regular extortion demands for “protection” and access to utilities.

During a recent raid, police found firearms, drugs, and ammunition intended for assault rifles within several crude residences. A few of these places functioned as holding cells for kidnap victims. Gavilanes stated that security forces started the operation because they investigated a potential human trafficking situation. Concluding that raid, they moved on to another neighborhood to demolish a booby-trapped house containing explosives. All signs pointed back to the same criminal network.

“These acts of violence also aim to destabilize the city,” Gavilanes told EFE, adding that the criminals seek to “distract police activities and have practically free rein for drug trafficking.”

The terror plaguing Durán has reached the point where the current government, under President Daniel Noboa—running for re-election against correísta candidate Luisa González—has labeled certain gangs “terrorist organizations.” Noboa declared an “internal armed conflict” in 2024, aiming to grant security forces broader legal authority to crack down on organized crime. Whether this classification will effectively dismantle the region’s violent enterprises remains to be seen, but for residents of Fincas Delia and other vulnerable neighborhoods, official measures cannot come quickly enough.

Fear escalated on April 7 when five people playing cards in a public park were brutally gunned down. The day before, plastic bags filled with human remains were discovered outside four food establishments—vile warnings from extortionists who had demanded money in exchange for “safety.” These incidents illustrate how criminal tactics fluctuate between horrifying shows of force and carefully calculated intimidation, all to maintain a stranglehold over the local population.

Despite the mounting crisis, some Durán natives hold onto hope that increased police raids, community-driven initiatives, and global awareness of the problem will turn the tide. Residents have begun organizing neighborhood watch groups, lobbying local authorities to provide better lighting and repair roads, and working with social services to steer youth away from gang recruitment.

Statistics cause worry. Durán’s fast climb to the top of the list with the world’s most dangerous cities shows the size of the illegal business but also the difficulty needed to overcome it. In his EFE interview, Gavilanes stated: “We must understand that Durán isn’t simply a place people travel through – it developed into a main gateway for illegal substances. Illegal operations stay rooted here.”

Because presidential elections are coming and new security measures will arrive soon, Durán’s future seems unclear. Will political determination plus combined execution defeat the continuing shift of gang disputes? As entire neighborhoods teeter on the edge of collapse, the fate of Durán has become emblematic of Ecuador’s broader battle to regain stability.

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For now, locals endure a tense reality, each fresh atrocity, a reminder that violence lurks just around the next corner. The town faces narcotics, corruption, and brutality. Locked gates, armed patrols, and coded whispers exist. Residents show resilience behind these walls of fear. People continue to gather the courage to speak out, building fragile alliances against a common enemy, determined to restore peace to Durán and, by extension, to all of Ecuador.