Crime and Safety
Cuenca is a relatively safe city compared to other cities in Ecuador.
In 2023, a total of 20 people were murdered in the canton of Cuenca in 2023. This means that the canton of Cuenca had a murder rate of 3.36 (3.36 murders per 100,000 inhabitants). To put this in perspective: the homicide rate for Ecuador is 46.5 and for the USA about 6. Many European countries have homicide rates between 0 and 2. Most homicides in Cuenca take place between members of criminal gangs.
The recommendations in the Ecuador Crime and Safety Guide are fully applicable to Cuenca. Below you can read about the specific situation in Cuenca.
Theft, robberies and assaults
Expats and tourists have a risk of becoming victims of opportunistic petty theft and pickpocketing, robberies, and assaults. Especially at night, the city can feel unsafe because many Cuencanos stay indoors at night.
Places to avoid when it starts to get dark:
- the parks along the rivers
- the area north of the bus terminal
- the area between the bus terminal and the city center (especially the so-called Chola Cuencana area)
- 9 de Octubre Market and surroundings
After 9 PM, we also recommend avoiding the eastern part of the city center and streets in the rest of the city center that are poorly lit or have little traffic.
Also be careful early in the mornings and on Sundays. Several expats have become victims of robberies and assaults when they left their homes early in the mornings. On Sundays, the city is very quiet and many streets are empty. Street robbers use this opportunity.
Gangs and drug cartels
For the past two years, Ecuador has been in the news for exceptional violence by gangs and drug cartels. This violence in Cuenca is hardly noticeable in everyday life. The battle between the gangs and cartels takes mainly place in the coastal region. This doesn't mean that there are no gang members in Cuenca. The city is one of the home bases of the Los Lobos gang, an 8,000-member gang that works together with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel from Mexico. This gang has also participated in several mass murders in the prison in Turi.