The Los Lobos drug gang is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack. In a video , a group of armed, masked men warned that other politicians should also watch out. They focus in particular on presidential candidate Jan Topic. 'Watch out Jan Topic, you dirty dog. As a presidential candidate, if you don't keep your word, you're next.”

The authenticity of that video was not confirmed by Ecuadorian authorities, and in another video - also unverified - the gang allegedly distanced itself from Villavicencio's murder.

The drug trade is the main cause of the unrest. Ecuador is a new hub in cocaine smuggling. The country trades drugs from neighboring Colombia and Peru to European countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands.'

On Thursday it was announced that customs made the largest drug discovery ever in the Netherlands in July. More than 8,000 kilos of cocaine was illegally transported from Peru via Ecuador to the port of Rotterdam.

Last week it was already known that most coke entering the port of Rotterdam is transported from Ecuador .

The Netherlands is working on a customs agreement with Ecuador to curb the smuggling of drugs.