The ‘cocaine superhighway’ with drugs destined for Britain as violent gangs wreck tourist haven with trail of death

ONCE a paradise playground for thousands of Brit backpackers, Ecuador has rapidly spiralled into a blood-soaked nightmare as ruthless drug smuggling cartels hijack the country.Now dubbed the world’s “cocaine superhighway”, the South American nation has been plunged into savagery as gangs wage war, terrorise locals, and pay off corrupt cops to protect their multi-billion-pound drug empires.