Armed gunmen killed at least nine people while they were playing pool at a bar in General Villamil Playas, Ecuador, on Saturday, July 20, 2025, marking another deadly incident in the country’s escalating wave of violence.
The attack occurred at a bar in a working-class neighborhood of the coastal city in Guayas province, a destination for local tourists in southwestern Ecuador. Armed individuals entered the establishment and opened fire on patrons who were playing pool, according to Ecuador’s prosecutor’s office.
Images circulated on social media showed at least nine bloodied bodies lying on the floor around several pool tables. Local media reports indicated the attackers were armed with automatic rifles. At the scene, relatives held two coffins Saturday night, and bullet holes were visible on the pool tables.
Police Colonel Jhanon Varela told media that two people were injured in the attack and received treatment at a local hospital. Authorities managed to identify only one body at the scene. Varela explained that when police arrived, many of those affected by the incident had already been removed from the scene by residents and family members. “It is presumed that there may be more victims,” he indicated.
Guayas Prefect Marcela Aguinaga revealed that one of the victims was a coach at a provincial soccer school. She wrote on social media that violence seeks to bring people to their knees, silence them, and accustom them to horror, but declared they would not stay silent nor surrender.
The shooting represents part of Ecuador’s most violent start to a year in recent history. In the first five months of 2025, Ecuador recorded 4,051 homicides according to official figures. The country’s homicide rate has risen dramatically from six per 100,000 residents in 2018 to 38 per 100,000 in 2024.
Drug trafficking organizations have been multiplying throughout Ecuador, where criminal gang violence continues despite the recent recapture of the country’s biggest drug lord, Adolfo Macias, known as Fito. Following his escape from a maximum-security prison in 2024, Macias was recaptured in June 2025 and subsequently extradited to the United States on Sunday, July 21, 2025. He pleaded not guilty on Monday to a seven-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn charging him and an unidentified co-defendant with international cocaine distribution, conspiracy, and weapons counts.
The violence has continued in the western province of Manabi, the stronghold of Fito and his gang, Los Choneros. During the week of the pool hall shooting, at least 20 people were killed in deadly violence across several cities, including Manta, where Fito was recaptured. Interior Minister John Reimberg announced increased security in Manta on Saturday afternoon, deploying 2,500 police officers at strategic points.
The United States classified Los Choneros as one of the most violent gangs and confirmed its connection to powerful Mexican drug cartels that threaten Ecuador and the surrounding region. Another major criminal organization, Los Lobos, was declared by the U.S. to be the largest drug trafficking organization in Ecuador.
A week after the Playas shooting, another mass shooting occurred in El Empalme, also in Guayas province. On Sunday, July 28, 2025, around 9 p.m., gunmen killed 17 people and injured 14 others at a crowded bar during festivities leading up to the parish’s anniversary. Witnesses reported that about 50 people had gathered at the open-air bar when two trucks arrived carrying armed men who began shooting indiscriminately at customers using rifles and handguns.
Police Major Oscar Valencia stated that eight to 10 people emerged from the vehicles during the El Empalme attack. Among the 17 people killed were three women and a 15-year-old boy, while a 12-year-old boy was also among the victims. The child ran for over a kilometer before collapsing and dying from gunshot wounds. Police believe the massacre was linked to a conflict between rival drug trafficking organizations, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, with the attackers targeting a specific individual who had been at the location earlier.
Ecuador, once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, has been plunged into crisis after years of expansion by transnational cartels that use its ports to ship drugs to the United States and Europe. President Daniel Noboa has declared war on organized crime and designated gangs as terrorist groups. Several provinces remain under a state of emergency in response to the escalating gang violence nationwide.