A prominent leader of one of Ecuador’s most dangerous criminal groups was shot and killed at the Guayaquil airport by assailants posing as flower vendors. Surveillance footage shows two young men approaching the victim before producing firearms and opening fire. Police have apprehended the teenage suspects. The assassination occurred just one day after Ecuador’s president declared a state of emergency in ten provinces, including Guayas, where the shooting took place. The victim, 39-year-old Carlos Alberto Suastegui Villaneuva, headed the Los Águilas gang, deeply involved in drug trafficking and recently designated a “terrorist organization” by the Ecuadorian government. Ecuador has experienced a surge in violence linked to international drug trafficking, becoming a key transit point for cocaine. The brazen daytime attack in the airport arrival hall has shocked the nation, and one traveler sustained a gunshot wound during the incident. The state of emergency grants security forces expanded powers to combat the escalating violence.