Chief of Ecuador’s Los Lobos medication gang captured in Spain

[ad_1] Ione Wells South America correspondent

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/76ee/live/2df053e0-c320-11f0-b6aa-5154cec25b8c.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="JohnReimberg/X A man in a sky blue long sleeved tshirt is flanked by two police officers wearing bulletproof vests as they walk to a row of police cars." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> JohnReimberg/X Ecuador's inside minister shared this image following information of Chavarria's seize

The chief of one in all Ecuador's greatest drug-trafficking gangs has been captured in an operation involving Spanish police, Ecuador's president Daniel Noboa has mentioned.

Wilmer "Pipo" Chavarria, the pinnacle of Los Lobos, was detained within the metropolis of Malaga, based on Spain's Nationwide Police.

President Noboa mentioned Chavarria had faked his personal loss of life, modified his id and hidden in Europe whereas persevering with to manage legal operations in Ecuador, together with unlawful mining and ordering murders.

His household had claimed in 2021 that he had died from a coronary heart assault because of Covid.

Each Ecuador and the US have designated Los Lobos (The Wolves) as a terrorist organisation.

In a post on X , Ecuador's inside minister John Reimberg, who mentioned he was in Spain with police, mentioned the seize of Chavarria was a "historic day" for his nation.

Los Lobos is estimated to have 8,000 members and is likely one of the strongest legal organisations in Ecuador.

In June 2024, the US Treasury sanctioned the gang and described it as a bunch with "1000's of members" that had considerably contributed to the rise in violence in Ecuador.

Violence and murders have soared in Ecuador lately because it has become a major cocaine trafficking hub and rival gangs compete for management. It doesn't produce the drug, however sits subsequent to main drug-producing nations equivalent to Peru and Colombia.

President Noboa has outlined his presidency by a tricky army crackdown on legal gangs.

The high-profile arrest coincides with a referendum in Ecuador on whether or not to alter the structure to permit international army bases within the nation once more.

The US held one on Ecuador's Pacific coast till 2009, when the left-wing president on the time Rafael Correa didn't renew it and banned them constitutionally.

US Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem has lately toured army amenities in Ecuador.

President Noboa advised the BBC earlier this yr that he needed US and European armies to join his "war" against what he called "narco-terrorists."

The US is increasing army operations within the Caribbean and Jap Pacific. It has deployed troops and a naval strike force centred around the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier to the area.

Moreover, it has carried out a minimum of 20 strikes on alleged narco-trafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean , killing a minimum of 80 folks.