Armed men dressed in military uniforms shot and killed seven people on Monday in western Ecuador, police reported. The attack occurred at a farm in Manabí province, one of nine provinces currently under a state of emergency. The incident took place as the country faces mounting drug-related violence, according to a report from Quito citing AFP.

Authorities said the assailants gathered the victims in a courtyard, interrogated them, and then opened fire with rifles and pistols. Among the dead was a 16-year-old boy. Ecuador, once one of South America’s safest nations, has seen a surge in violence linked to drug trafficking networks fighting for control. President Daniel Noboa has deployed the military in anti-narcotics operations, but killings have continued to rise, reaching a record 9,216 violent deaths last year.

The country’s strategic Pacific coastline has turned it into a key transit point for cocaine from Colombia and Peru bound for the United States and Europe, intensifying competition among international cartels and local gangs.