Sharjah 24 – AFP: Ecuador's capital Quito was rocked by attacks with grenades and two car bombs overnight Wednesday in an apparent show of force by organized crime gangs that claimed no victims.

The car bombs targeted the violence-hobbled country's SNAI prisons authority -- one exploding outside its headquarters and the other at a building that formerly housed SNAI offices.

The country, until a few years ago a peaceful haven nestled between the world's largest cocaine producers -- Colombia and Peru -- has recently descended into violence as it has itself become a hub for drug trafficking.

Ecuador's prisons have been the focus of massacres by rival gangs with links to Colombian and Mexican cartels that have left more than 430 inmates dead since 2021, leaving a trail of burned and dismembered bodies.

The police's anti-drug investigations boss, General Pablo Ramirez, told reporters one of the rigged cars, a sedan, had been loaded with "two gas cylinders with fuel, a slow fuse and apparently dynamite sticks."

Firefighters said there were no injuries.

Quito Mayor Pabel Munoz said the night also saw three grenade explosions in Quito.

Six people, including a Colombian national, were arrested near the scene of one of these explosions, according to Ramirez.

All have a criminal history of extortion, robbery and murder, he said.

"Three of them were arrested 15 days ago for the theft of a truck and extortive kidnappings... and were released" under conditions, Ramirez said.