Police arrest suspect in deadly Ecuador blast

Ecuadoran police on Wednesday arrested a suspect in a weekend blast that killed five people in the port city of Guayaquil and was blamed by the government on organized crime, the interior minister said Wednesday.

The suspect "admitted to being involved in the terrorist attack" in the neighborhood of Cristo del Consuelo, minister Patricio Carrillo said on Twitter.

The man had "a history of murder and robbery," he added.

Five people died and 17 were wounded -- two seriously -- when two people on a motorcycle threw a bag of explosives into a restaurant in Guayaquil on Sunday.

"This is the type of crime that now faces #Ecuador, a clear message for all: either we act as a... determined State or the consequences will be very serious," said Carrillo.

Sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest cocaine producers, Ecuador is facing a drug-fueled crime wave that has produced scenes of horror, including decapitated bodies hanging from bridges.

Ecuador in 2020 accounted for 6.5 percent of all the cocaine seized in the world, according to United Nations figures.