Irish man dies in Ecuador prison after being arrested at airport with alleged cocaine

An Irish man who was arrested earlier this month with his son in Ecuador, allegedly in possession of a large amount of cocaine, has died in prison.

The man, believed to have been in his early 60s, was arrested in Guayaquil Airport, according to The Irish Times.

Local police alleged he and his son were on their way to Madrid with 15 blocks of cocaine.

The man’s son is still in prison in the South American country, through which a large amount of the world’s cocaine travels on its way from Peru and Colombia to Europe, the US and elsewhere.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance.

It is believed the man died of natural causes, but this could not be confirmed by The Irish Times.

Ecuador has experienced a significant growth in gang- and drug-related crime in recent years and has struggled to accommodate the rise in the number of inmates in its prisons.

A report last year by Amnesty International said an estimated 600 people had by then died in prisons in Ecuador in the period from 2019.