Overview
- Police say the heads were discovered on Feb. 15 in a rural area of Naranjal in Guayas province on Ecuador’s Pacific coast.
- The remains belonged to eight unidentified men, with the heads left in jute sacks at the site.
- A message reading “Stehlen verboten” (“No stealing”) was recovered near the heads, said police commander Marcelo Castillo.
- Investigators suspect the killings relate to a struggle between criminal groups over illegal businesses, with no arrests reported so far.
- The discovery follows a January case of five heads found on another beach, as Ecuador reports a murder rate of 54 per 100,000 last year and police seizures totaling 227 tonnes of drugs.