Human heads found hanging on a beach in southwestern Ecuador

Five human heads were found hanging from ropes on a beach in southwestern Ecuador, police said on Sunday, as the country reels from a wave of violence related to drug trafficking. Next to the heads was a warning sign directed at alleged extortionists of fishermen in the small fishing port of Puerto Lopez. Drug-trafficking networks with links to transnational cartels are active in the area and have used fishermen and their small boats for their illicit activities, according to authorities.