The Subzonal Criminalistics Unit reported that the grave was open and contained about 80 human bones, according to local television station Ecuavisa.

Further details of the case are currently unknown, and according to the media outlet, the National Police found no evidence to determine how the remains arrived at the site.

The Segundo Montes Mozo SJ Human Rights Documentation Center (CSMM)

called on the Prosecutor’s Office and the Police to apply international standards for investigating possible extrajudicial killings.

This is not the first time similar incidents have been reported in the country. In November 2024, police removed the remains of nine people from the Papagayo Protected Forest in Guayaquil, a case attributed at the time to organized crime groups.

The CSMM lamented “the State’s inability to end the spiral of violence” and criticized “flawed strategies such as the militarization of impoverished areas,” arguing that they increase human rights violations.

The discovery of the mass grave comes amid the ongoing security crisis in Ecuador, where, despite militarization and frequent states of emergency, more than 7,500 homicides have been reported this year, according to official data.

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