Ecuadorian police believe a social media post by beauty queen Landy Párraga Goyburo, 23, showing her plate of octopus ceviche gave cartel hitmen her location so they could murder her.
The former Miss Ecuador contestant was gunned down on Sunday in Quevedo, a short time after she shared details of her final meal to millions of followers on social media.
The killers were believed to have been hired by the widow of a cartel boss who had an affair with Ms Párraga Goyburo before his violent death in prison.
Shocking footage of the murder shows the gunmen approach the table where Ms Párraga Goyburo and a male companion were eating before shooting her repeatedly at point-blank range.
The first masked attacker quickly opens fire, shooting towards both Párraga and the man, before firing another round of bullets at the woman as she lays on the ground.
Did posting footage of this Octopus ceviche on social media alert cartel hitmen to Landy Párraga Goyburo’s location allowing them to gun her down in a busy restaurant
Landy Párraga Goyburo was shot dead in a restaurant on Sunday
Horror CCTV footage captured the moment Párraga, 23, was chatting to a man in an eatery moments before her attackers enter
Masked assailants clad in black storm into the restaurant and open fire before fleeing, leaving Párraga dead on the ground in a pool of blood
Párraga, a former Miss Ecuador contestant, was gunned down after she was cryptically discussed by a drug trafficker before his murder in prison
The second attacker stays on guard by the restaurant door.
Both armed assailants then flee the scene, dashing out of the door and onto the street after carrying out their murder in broad daylight.
The former model can be seen lying motionless on the floor in a pool of her own blood, with a bullet mark visible on her right thigh.
The police are currently investigating the incident, working to discover the motive and identify the assailants responsible.
Párraga was having an affair with cartel boss Leandro Norero before he was jailed and killed in a prison riot 18 months ago.
He had earlier revealed to a confederate that if his wife ever discovered the affair he would be ‘screwed’.
Párraga was a former Miss Ecuador contestant, having represented Los Ríos Province in 2022.
She had more than a million followers across her social media accounts.
The 23-year-old social media influencer was a highly successful businesswoman despite her young age, owning a households goods importer, while running her own sportswear line.
On her social networks she shared the luxurious life she led, between trips around the world and meals in luxurious places.
But there was a darker truth behind the glam lifestyle portrayed on social media.
In December 2023, her name was mentioned in a chat made public by the Attorney General’s Office as part of a major organised crime case it is investigating.
One of the 52 people being prosecuted in the case is Helive Angulo, nicknamed ‘Estimado’.
In the chat, Angulo told the drug trafficker Leandro Norero, whose assets he managed, that the police had asked him about Párraga.
Norero cryptically wrote: ‘If my wife comes across anything about her, I’m screwed.
‘My friend, her name cannot come out anywhere. Otherwise, my world will come crashing down.’
According to El Comercio, at just 23-years-old, Párraga was the owner of a households goods importer, and ran her own sportswear line
In December 2023, Párraga’s name was mentioned in a chat made public by the Attorney General’s Office as part of a major organised crime case it is investigating
Norero was killed in prison in 2022, six months after his incarceration.
Money transfers made to Párraga’s bank account are under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office.
The office never prosecuted Párraga and she had never publicly commented on the case.
The shocking daylight killing comes as the once peaceful Ecuador’s murder rate has spiked more than 250 per cent since 2020.
In recent years the murder rate has soared to record levels as Mexican drug cartels take over the territory.
Beheadings, port massacres, public hangings and torture are becoming increasingly more popular as the South American country suffers a wave of bloodshed.
A report from last year by respected NGO Crisis Group found that the livelihoods of many ordinary families in poor areas of Ecuador now depend on the drug business, with men selling cocaine while women pack it into plastic bags.
One of the Crisis Group authors, expert Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche, told that the narcos’ influence is spreading across the country: ‘These groups are slowly gaining more ground or territorial control outside of these areas that they currently run.’