Lenin Artieda—an Ecuadorian television presenter—was wounded after a bomb inside a USB stick exploded when he inserted it into his computer. Fortunately, he only suffered minor injuries to his hands and face in the blast, which took place in the newsroom of Ecuavisa TV in Guayaquil.
Xavier Chango Llerena, chief of criminal investigations for the National Police of Ecuador, said that law enforcement had found envelopes containing explosive devices at four different media outlets, two in Guayaquil and two in Quito, and at a parcel delivery company.
According to the chief, in the attack against Artieda, only half of the charge detonated. If the whole charge had exploded his injuries would likely have been much more severe.
The police carried out clearance operations and photographs were published on their official Twitter account:
The attorney general’s office has launched a terrorism investigation following the incidents and Xavier Chango, head of forensic science said:
“It’s a military-type explosive, but very small capsules.”
Ecuador has experienced a further increase in violence lately. President Guillermo Lasso said this is a result of competition between drug trafficking gangs for territory and control.
The best practice regarding USB sticks is to never insert them into your computer if you don't know where they are coming from. However, that is usually because of the risk of malware, not of explosives.
