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🇪🇨 Ecuador /Crime & Justice

Contract killings rise in Ecuador, university finance manager's murder underscores trend

From El Comercio · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Contract killings, or sicariato, are increasing in Ecuador, even as overall homicides decrease.
  • A recent case involving the financial manager of a university highlights the rise in sicariato and the involvement of teenagers in organized crime.
  • Experts point to public management issues and the need for national planning beyond temporary police operations.

Contract killings, known as sicariato, are on the rise in Ecuador, presenting a disturbing trend even as intentional homicides see a decline. The recent murder of Santiago David Ávalos Páez, the financial manager of a Quito university, starkly illustrates two critical issues: the escalating frequency of sicariato and the alarming participation of adolescents in these violent crimes. Preliminary investigations suggest a 17-year-old was the alleged perpetrator, with five adults implicated in the planning stages.

The adolescents constitute one of the groups with the greatest increase in arrests related to weapons.

— Emilio CarrilloExplaining the growing involvement of minors in criminal activities.

Official statistics reveal a significant increase in sicariato cases. Between January and May 2026, the Ministry of the Interior recorded 17 such incidents, a 54.5% jump from the 11 cases reported in the same period of 2025. In contrast, intentional homicides dropped by 14.7%, from 4,085 to 3,485 during the same intervals. This divergence suggests a shift in the nature of violent crime within the country.

The historical data from the Ministry of the Interior shows a fluctuating but generally upward trend in sicariato since 2018, after a notable dip in 2016 and 2017. The involvement of minors is a growing concern, with psychology professor Emilio Carrillo noting that criminal organizations increasingly use adolescents for various roles. Clinical psychologist Camila Galarza attributes this recruitment to a complex mix of familial, social, and personal vulnerabilities, emphasizing the lack of support networks for at-risk youth.

There is no single cause for an adolescent to become involved in criminal activities.

— Camila GalarzaDiscussing the factors contributing to adolescent recruitment by criminal organizations.

Security expert Edison Mafla argues that the surge in sicariato reflects systemic problems in public management and local planning. He stresses that temporary police operations are insufficient. Mafla calls for a comprehensive national strategy that integrates enforcement actions with robust citizen participation to effectively combat organized crime. The motive for Ávalos Páez's murder is believed to be linked to internal audits he conducted on university procurement processes.

The country needs national planning that articulates control actions and strengthens citizen participation.

— Edison MaflaProposing solutions to address the rise in contract killings.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Comercio in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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