Car bombs, prison massacres and beheadings: Ecuador terrorized by rise in Mexican-led drug trafficking

Once a relatively peaceful neighbor of major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has become a battleground for criminal gangs looking to control the drug trafficking trade, analysts and authorities say.

The violence is grim and takes multiple forms: car bombs, prison massacres and bodies hanging from bridges have become commonplace. Decapitated heads are found in the streets.

The South American country of 18 million -- which for years was merely a transit point in the narcotics trade -- has become a "sanctuary for organized crime," former military intelligence chief Mario Pazmino told AFP.