<p class="speakable">Five severed human heads were found hanging from ropes on a beach in southwestern Ecuador Sunday in a gruesome display linked to ongoing <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/organized-crime" rel="noopener" target="_blank">gang violence</a> sweeping across the country, according to reports.</p><p class="speakable">The killings came amid a wave of bloody violence tied to drug trafficking and organized crime, which has surged across Ecuador in recent years.</p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/ecuador-violence-human-heads-5eb3816fcf8f0e5682b72f596f5a4879" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported that the grim discovery underscores the tactics used by criminal groups competing for control of territory and trafficking routes, especially along the country’s coastline.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/tren-de-aragua-gang-leader-charged-racketeering-conspiracy-cocaine-trafficking-under-trump-crackdown" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>TREN DE ARAGUA GANG LEADER CHARGED WITH RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY AND COCAINE TRAFFICKING UNDER TRUMP CRACKDOWN</strong></a></p><p>Police said the heads were found on a tourist beach in the small fishing port of Puerto Lopez, in Manabi province.</p><p>The images shared by Ecuadorian media and on social media showed the severed heads tied with ropes to wooden poles planted in the sand, with blood visible at the scene.</p><p>A wooden sign left beside the heads carried a threatening message aimed at alleged extortionists targeting local fishermen.</p><p>The message warned those demanding so-called "vaccine cards" protection payments commonly extorted by gangs that they had been identified, the report said.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-identifies-single-most-serious-threat-us-from-western-hemisphere" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong><u>RUBIO IDENTIFIES 'SINGLE MOST SERIOUS THREAT' TO THE US FROM WESTERN HEMISPHERE</u></strong></a></p><p>Authorities said the display was likely the result of a conflict between criminal groups operating in the area.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/drugs" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Drug-trafficking networks</a> with links to transnational cartels are active along Ecuador’s coast and have used fishermen and their small boats to transport illicit shipments, according to local police.</p><p>President Daniel Noboa launched an armed campaign against gangs and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/state-emergency-declared-violent-protests-rock-south-american-nation-over-diesel-price-hikes" rel="noopener" target="_blank">declared states of emergency</a> in several provinces, including Manabi, deploying the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/police-and-law-enforcement" rel="noopener" target="_blank">military to support police operations</a>.</p><p>Despite his efforts, violence has continued to escalate with police increasing patrols and surveillance in Puerto Lopez following recent massacres in the province, the Associated Press said.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/ms-13-gang-leader-accused-murder-ex-honduran-presidents-son-arrested-mebraska" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>MS-13 GANG LEADER ACCUSED IN MURDER OF EX-HONDURAN PRESIDENT’S SON ARRESTED IN NEBRASKA</strong></a></p><p>In 2025, at least nine people, including a baby, were killed there in an attack that authorities blamed on clashes between local gangs also.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP</strong></a></p><p>As previously reported by Fox News Digital, in 2025, infighting between <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/organized-crime" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><u>factions of a gang</u></a> vying for control over territory in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, left nearly two dozen people dead.</p><p>Ecuador ended the year with a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/homicide" rel="noopener" target="_blank">record homicide rate</a> of 52 per 100,000 people, according to the Organized Crime Observatory, making it the deadliest year on record.</p>