Soccer star Mario Pineida shot and killed in Ecuador

1 day ago 7

Ecuadorian constabulary said connected Wednesday that Mario Pineida, a 33-year-old Barcelona de Guayaquil defender and erstwhile nationalist squad player, was changeable dormant successful an evident onslaught arsenic unit escalates successful the Andean nation.

Another idiosyncratic who constabulary did not place was besides killed successful the incident, and a 3rd was wounded.

Ecuador's Interior Ministry confirmed Pineida's decease without providing details. Barcelona de Guayaquil said successful a statement its fans are saddened by Pineida's death. "Rest successful peace," the squad wrote successful a abstracted social media post paying tribute to Pineida.

Pineida played 8 games for Ecuador but was not progressive successful the squad qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. His past crippled for Ecuador was astatine the 2021 Copa América, arsenic a precocious substitute successful a group-stage crippled against Brazil. He besides went to the 2017 edition.

Pineida started his nonrecreational vocation astatine Independiente del Valle, wherever helium played from 2010 to 2015. He past moved to the nine of the coastal metropolis of Guayaquil successful 2016 and won 2 league titles there. The defender besides had a little spell astatine Brazil's Fluminense successful 2022.

Ecuadorian media reported the incidental took spot successful the portion of Samanes successful the northbound extremity of Guayaquil, which lies 165 miles southwest of the superior Quito.

Playing shot successful Ecuador tin beryllium deadly, with match-fixing mafias portion of a planetary transgression empire that earns gangs immoderate $1.7 trillion per year, according to a caller United Nations estimate.

Barcelona SC v Palmeiras - Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2023

In November, a 16-year-old footballer of Independiente del Valle died from a stray bullet, besides successful Guayaquil. Miguel Nazareno was astatine location "when helium unluckily became a unfortunate of the insecurity affecting our country," the shot team said successful an Instagram post, citing a question of transgression unit began successful Ecuador astir 5 years ago.

In October, Ecuadoran shot subordinate Bryan "Cuco" Angulo was shot successful the foot while attending a grooming session.

Two months earlier, Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yépez, some players of Exapromo Costa, and Jonathan González, of 22 de Junio died from gunshot wounds.

Escalating unit successful Ecuador

Ecuador is expected to person its astir convulsive twelvemonth connected grounds with much than 9,000 homicides, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime. That fig was astatine 7,063 convulsive deaths past twelvemonth and a then-record 8,248 successful 2023.

President Daniel Noboa has pledged to combat transgression organizations that person expanded their operations successful Ecuadorian territory successful transportation with planetary cause cartels.

Since 2021, Ecuador has experienced increasing transgression unit by gangs operating successful coordination with Colombian and Mexican cartels involved successful cause trafficking.

Strategically located betwixt Colombia and Peru, 2 of the world's largest cocaine producers, it has go a large transit hub for narcotics.

Noboa has deployed troops to combat the unit — to small effect.

In the archetypal fractional of this year, homicides successful Ecuador accrued by 47% compared to the aforesaid play successful 2024, according to the Observatory of Organized Crime.

In October, an Ecuadoran judge was killed while walking his children to school. Provincial constabulary main Colonel Giovanni Naranjo told reporters the Los Lobos gang — designated a foreign violent organization by the United States — was suspected of the attack.

Also successful October, authorities successful Ecuador reported 2 attacks that left 14 radical dead and 17 wounded, with immoderate of the victims showing signs of torture.

Criminal gang violence continues unabated pursuing the recapture successful June of the country's biggest cause lord, Adolfo Macías after his flight from a maximum-security situation successful 2024. In July, the Ecuadoran government extradited Macias to the United States, wherever helium faces aggregate cause trafficking and firearms charges.