Nov. 16 (UPI) — The alleged leader of the violent Ecuadorian gang Los Lobos has been captured in Spain by Spanish and Ecuadorian authorities after he faked his death, officials said Sunday.
Wilmer Geovanny Chavarría Barré, known as “Pipo” Chavarría, was arrested in the city of Malaga, Spain’s National Police said in a statement.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa called Chavarría “the most wanted criminal in the region” and the “top leader” of Los Lobos.
“Some wrote him off as dead; we hunted him down in his very own hell. That’s the difference when there’s the will to fight for your country,” Noboa said. “I recognize and thank the joint efforts of the Ecuadorian and Spanish National Police. To combat transnational crime, international cooperation is a necessity.”
Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg revealed Sunday that Chavarría faked his death in 2021, forged documents and changed his face seven times to escape justice.
Reimberg said Chavarría ordered murders, attacks and drug shipments while on the run in Dubai, Spain and Morocco, as well as other countries.
“He is responsible for more than 400 deaths in Ecuador,” Reimberg said. “We tracked him country by country. He thought he could hide in Europe, but we were waiting for him.”
Both Ecuador and the United States have designated Los Lobos as a terrorist organization. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau congratulated Ecuador for the capture.
“Remember: if governments aren’t attacking crime, it’s because they’re complicit — tolerating crime is a choice, not a destiny,” Landau said.
Noboa, like El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, has gained recognition through recent crackdowns on criminal gangs and cartels as crime has spread through Latin America.
On Saturday, injuries were reported in Mexico City after clashes between police and decentralized Gen Z movement protesters critical of President Claudia Sheinbaum for how her government has handled corruption and violent crime across Mexico.
The protests in Mexico came after Carlos Manzo, the popular mayor of Uruapan in the state of Michoacán, was assassinated earlier this month while with his family celebrating Day of the Dead.
Manzo had cracked down against organized crime and the cartels in Uruapan before his death, and has also been likened to Bukele for his approach.
