Armed attack at Guayaquil airport: questions raised over hitmen's entry
A bouquet of flowers and a stuffed animal served as camouflage for hitmen who shot dead a leader of the Los Águilas crime group at Guayaquil airport, raising questions about how they managed to enter the terminal armed.
Armed attack at Guayaquil airport: questions raised over hitmen's entry
A bouquet of flowers and a stuffed animal served as camouflage for hitmen who shot dead a leader of the Los Águilas crime group at Guayaquil airport, according to reporting by Expreso.
The incident occurred on Wednesday 17 June in the international arrivals area of José Joaquín de Olmedo Airport. The victim, Carlos Alberto Suástegui Villanueva, aged 39, was identified by Interior Minister John Reimberg as leader of the Los Águilas faction operating in El Triunfo, Guayas province.
At the time of the killing, Suástegui was returning from a trip through Central America. Two teenagers, born in 2010 and 2011, waited for him at the passenger exit disguised as greeters with teddy bears and flowers. One of them approached the victim, pulled a weapon concealed behind the stuffed animal and fired at close range, according to security footage released by local media and reported by BBC.
Police officers detained both suspected hitmen in the airport car parks. They also seized two firearms which, according to investigations, were used in the attack, Reimberg confirmed to La República EC.
Suástegui died at the scene. A person accompanying him—presumed to be his wife—was wounded and taken to a medical facility. A bystander also sustained injuries. Passengers in the terminal fled in panic upon hearing the gunshots, according to reporting by newspaper El Universo, cited by BBC.
The arrivals hall remained closed for more than two hours whilst experts gathered evidence. Operations resumed the following day with normal service, according to local press reports compiled by Prensa Latina.
The deceased had no active arrest warrant, the minister clarified. However, he was listed as under investigation in three cases, including a homicide in 2019. He is attributed with participation in criminal association, murder and illegal weapons possession. Los Águilas is linked to drug trafficking, contract killing and extortion in several areas of Guayas, according to Prensa Latina.
The killing occurred one day after President Daniel Noboa decreed a state of exception for 60 days in ten provinces and three cantons, in response to rising violence linked to organised crime. Since the start of 2024, the government has declared successive similar measures, characterising the situation as "internal armed conflict" and designating groups such as Los Águilas as "terrorist organisations".
Despite these measures, Ecuador recorded a record 9,281 homicides in 2025, equivalent to more than 50 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to figures cited by La República EC.
The case has raised questions about how an individual deemed a "priority target" was able to leave and re-enter the country without being detained, whilst his killers knew his itinerary with precision. Former President Rafael Correa also questioned the incident, arguing that it reveals intelligence failures, according to reporting by Prensa Latina.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil