By Wilmer Geovanny Chavarría Barre, known as “Pipo,” the alleged leader of the 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 wrote 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, said Chavarría was “responsible for at least 400 deaths” and described the arrest as the result of a coordinated operation between Ecuador’s National Police and Spanish authorities. Chavarría faces accusations of orchestrating assassinations, controlling illegal 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 U.S. in September 2024, has been linked to drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and providing armed support to CJNG to secure key cocaine routes, particularly in the city of Guayaquil. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the group in June 2024, stating it had “thousands of members” and was a major driver of escalating violence across Ecuador.
Authorities also 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.
