Five severed human heads were found hanging from ropes along a popular tourist beach in Puerto López, in a gruesome display authorities believe was intended as a violent warning in an escalating turf war between rival drug trafficking groups.
The shocking discovery was made on Sunday by beachgoers in the coastal fishing town, a well-known whale-watching destination on Ecuador's western shoreline. Beside the heads, investigators found a wooden sign bearing a threatening message asserting control over the area and warning those accused of extorting local fishermen that they would meet the same fate.
