Suspected gang leader shot dead in flower bouquet ambush at airport

A suspected leader of the Los Águilas criminal gang was shot dead outside the arrivals terminal of José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Security footage captured two young men waiting with flowers and a stuffed toy before one approached the victim and shot him at point-blank range.

Police have detained two teenagers in connection with the daylight attack, which is the latest incident in a surge of gang violence plaguing the country. Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg identified the victim as 39-year-old Carlos Alberto Suástegui Villanueva, whom he described as the leader of the Los Águilas gang in El Triunfo. The Los Águilas gang was designated a "terrorist organisation" by President Daniel Noboa in 2024 and is implicated in drug trafficking and extortion.

Ecuador, situated between Colombia and Peru, has become a key transit point for cocaine smuggling. Guayaquil, the nation's largest city, has been particularly affected by drug and gang-related violence. The shooting outside the airport, which left one bystander injured, has shocked residents. President Noboa has implemented states of emergency in affected provinces to grant security forces expanded powers, though the murder rate reached a record high in 2025.