Signs abounded that deadly Ecuador prison attack was coming

The signs that an attack was imminent inside the largest prison in Ecuador’s coastal city of Guayaquil could not have been clearer

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador -- The signs that an attack was imminent inside the largest prison in Ecuador’s coastal city of Guayaquil could not have been clearer.

There had been talk among inmates of the Litoral Penitentiary for days that a group was going to attack another. Then, early Friday morning, police arrested three men trying to smuggle two rifles, five handguns, three grenades, sticks of dynamite and hundreds of rounds of ammunition into the lockup.

Hours later police announced what the prisoners inside Litoral already knew: The three men detained belonged to a prison gang that was stockpiling weapons.

What happened hours later confirmed there were many more weapons already inside. Late Friday, a brutal attack was launched and clashes among rival gangs lasted for hours into early Saturday. When the dust settled and authorities had regained control, they found at least 68 inmates dead and 25 wounded in what was only the most recent massacre in Ecuador’s troubled penitentiary system.