Six prisoners were found dead on Friday in a prison in Guayas Province, on the Pacific coast of the country, and a seventh was murdered on Saturday in a prison in the capital of Quito.
Authorities moved another six prisoners, who were also linked to the murder of candidate Fernando Villavicencio after a political rally, to a different location.
President Guillermo Lasso removed the head of the National Service of Integral Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) and the General Director of Investigation of the National Police from their posts. The Ecuadorian Attorney General's Office launched an investigation against the head of SNAI, who failed to execute an order to transfer the late suspects to safety.
On Sunday, a judge ordered the arrest of the head of the Guayas No. 1 detention center and remanded him in custody.
President Lasso highlighted that the National Police and its General Commander must work decisively to support the investigation processes carried out by the Attorney General's Office and the participation of the FBI to apprehend the masterminds of the crime.
Due to the security crisis in Ecuador on the eve of the second round of the presidential elections next Sunday, the President renewed the state of emergency at the national level for a period of 30 days.