(Bloomberg) -- The prosecutor investigating last week’s gang attack on an Ecuador TV station was shot dead, in the latest high-profile assassination to shake the country. 

Prosecutor César Suárez was murdered in Guayaquil by an organization tied to international drug cartels, according to Prosecutor General Diana Salazar.

Salazar called on police to step up protection of prosecutors, and said hearings linked to organized crime should be heard online to lower the threat. 

President Daniel Noboa last week declared a state of emergency and said the country has an internal conflict between the state and drug organizations. Gangs responded with murders, kidnappings and prison riots. 

Read more: Ecuador Criminal Uprising Threatens to Derail Comeback Plan

Suarez’s killing reflect the poor protection of witnesses and prosecutors in the country, said Ramiro Garcia, lawyer of the widow of Fernando Villavicencio, an anti-graft crusader and presidential candidate assassinated last August.

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