Alleged leader of Ecuadorian drug trafficking gang Los Lobos arrested in Spain
By Rocío Muñoz-Ledo and Ana María Cañizares, CNN en Español
(CNN) — Wilmer Geovanny Chavarría Barré, known as “Pipo,” the alleged leader of drug trafficking gang Los Lobos – Ecuador’s most powerful and violent criminal organization – has been arrested in Spain, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced on Sunday.
“Today we captured ‘Pipo’ Chavarría, the most wanted criminal in the region and top leader of Los Lobos,” President Noboa posted on his official X account.
The announcement coincided with a national referendum in Ecuador, which includes proposals aimed at combating organized crime, such as the potential reintroduction of foreign military bases.
Ecuador’s Minister of Defense, John Reimberg, stated that Chavarría was “responsible for at least 400 deaths,” and said the arrest was the result of a coordinated operation between Ecuador’s National Police and Spanish authorities.
Chavarría is accused of orchestrating assassinations, controlling illegal gold mining operations, and trafficking narcotics in collaboration with Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Noboa said the gang leader had “faked his death, changed his identity, and hid in Europe while continuing to direct criminal operations in Ecuador.”
Los Lobos – designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in September 2024 – has been linked to drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and providing armed support to CJNG in securing key cocaine routes, particularly in the port city of Guayaquil.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned the group in June 2024, stating it had “thousands of members” and was a major driver of escalating violence across Ecuador.
Los Lobos began as a murder-for-hire group that operated alongside Los Choneros, now its rival in the fight for drug trafficking dominance, according to the US Treasury Department.
Authorities suspect Los Lobos of involvement in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio on August 9, 2023, in Quito.
Chavarría’s arrest marks a major development in Ecuador’s ongoing fight against transnational organized crime.
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