U.S, April 2 -- In a devastating turn of events, Ecuadoran authorities reported the abduction, interrogation, and murder of five tourists over the weekend, all of whom were mistakenly believed to be associated with a rival drug gang.

According to officials, approximately 20 assailants stormed a hotel in the coastal town of Ayampe on Friday, seizing six adults and a child.

Richard Vaca, the local police commander, recounted that the abducted tourists, all of Ecuadoran nationality, were subjected to interrogation before their bodies were discovered hours later, bearing gunshot wounds, on a nearby road.

Vaca indicated that the attackers appeared to have misidentified the victims as members of a competing drug faction. President Daniel Nob...