In a shocking incident that highlights Ecuador's escalating security crisis, assassins disguised as police officers were captured on footage storming a football pitch and executing three gang rivals with assault rifles. The chilling attack, which lasted just five minutes, unfolded in an upmarket residential area, sending ripples of fear through the community.
Disturbing Footage Reveals Cold-Blooded Execution
The distressing clip, which has circulated widely, shows nine men engaged in a casual game of football when five hitmen, dressed convincingly as cops, emerged onto the pitch around 9:30pm on January 7. Realising the imminent danger, the players immediately dropped to the ground, lying on their fronts in a desperate attempt to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
Using powerful torches to illuminate their targets, the masked assassins quickly sifted through the prone players. They singled out a man dressed in black, positioned in the middle of the pitch. In a brutal display, the hitmen were seen kicking the helpless victim as he lay on the grass before one of the killers executed him with a point-blank gunshot in full view of the other players.
Swift Escape and Additional Discoveries
Moments after the execution, the gunmen dashed off as rapidly as they had arrived. The surviving players slowly rose from the ground, leaving the victim's body behind as they fled the pitch in terror. In the aftermath of this cold-blooded killing, police discovered two additional bodies in the surrounding area, bringing the total death toll to three.
The murders occurred at a football pitch forming part of a golf club complex in Isla Mocoli, an affluent residential area near the town of Samborondon in Ecuador's Guayas province. According to reports from Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo, the attackers had first overpowered the community's security guards, tying them up and stealing their weapons before carrying out the hit.
Victims Identified as Notorious Criminals
One of the primary victims was identified as Stalin Rolando Olivero Vargas, known by the alias 'Marino.' The 40-year-old, who had previously been sentenced to six years in prison for robbery in 2011, was believed to be the leader of the local organised crime gang Los Lagartos, meaning The Lizards.
The other two men killed alongside Vargas were also well-known to police, with previous convictions for serious crimes including illegal weapons possession, murder, and drug trafficking. Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed all three victims had criminal records and described the incident as a targeted attack.
Gang Betrayal Motive Emerges
Police investigating the murders have uncovered evidence suggesting Vargas may have been targeted by members of his own gang after initiating talks with a rival criminal organisation about switching allegiances. In a television interview following the killings, Minister Reimberg revealed crucial details about the motive.
'The man known by his nickname of Marino was the leader of a criminal organisation called Los Lagartos,' Reimberg stated. 'From what we have been able to establish so far, he appeared to have made contact with a gang called Los Lobos, and that meant betraying his own group, which could obviously have led to a settling of scores.'
The minister further confirmed that none of the murdered men lived on the residential estate where the attack occurred, noting they had been invited there by someone whose identity authorities are not yet disclosing publicly.
Ecuador's Deepening Security Crisis
This football pitch execution represents just one episode in Ecuador's dramatic transformation from one of South America's safest nations to one of its most violent within a single decade. The country has become a significant hub for the drug trade to Europe, with growing involvement in international drug trafficking and fierce competition between criminal groups driving much of the violence.
Large-scale outbreaks of prison violence, frequently involving rival gangs, have further contributed to the deteriorating security situation. The football pitch murder follows another high-profile killing just weeks earlier that shocked the sporting community.
Recent Footballer Assassination
On December 17, former international footballer Mario Pineida was gunned down alongside his Peruvian girlfriend Guisella Fernandez in a targeted attack outside a butcher's shop in northern Guayaquil. The 33-year-old defender, who played for Ecuador nine times between 2014 and 2021, could be seen putting his hands in the air before one of two motorbike-riding assassins opened fire at close range.
Pineida, who played for Ecuador's Serie A side Barcelona Sporting Club and had a loan spell with Brazilian top-flight team Fluminense in 2022, had driven the two women to purchase a pork shank for a family Christmas meal. His mother was also injured in the attack, though not seriously.
These brazen attacks in public spaces underscore the challenges facing Ecuadorian authorities as they grapple with sophisticated criminal networks willing to carry out executions in broad view of witnesses. The football pitch murders, with their police disguises and military-style precision, represent a particularly alarming development in the country's security landscape.
