One of Ecuador’s most sought-after crime figures was taken into custody in Spain on Sunday, ending years on the run after he staged his own death during the pandemic. President Daniel Noboa confirmed that Wilmer Chavarria — known by the alias “Pipo” — was detained in Malaga in a coordinated operation with Spanish authorities. Spain’s National Police released an image showing Chavarria in a black-and-green tracksuit as officers led him to a patrol vehicle.
Investigators say Chavarria headed Los Lobos, a violent criminal network estimated to have roughly 8,000 members and recently designated a terrorist organization by the United States. The group has been tied to high-profile assassinations and is suspected of maintaining ties to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Another senior figure in the group, Carlos D — widely known as “El Chino” — was arrested earlier this year in Portoviejo. Authorities described him as the syndicate’s second-in-command and a “high-value target.”
According to Noboa, Chavarria vanished in 2021 by faking his death, securing new documents, and relocating to Spain, where he allegedly continued directing drug routes, issuing assassination orders and extorting Ecuador’s gold-mining sector from abroad.
Chavarria’s capture coincides with a national referendum asking voters whether to amend the constitution to permit foreign militaries to operate bases on Ecuadorian soil. President Noboa argues such a change is essential to expand joint security efforts with partners like the United States and strengthen the country’s capacity to confront entrenched trafficking groups.
Ecuador also continues to face destabilizing gang violence even after the dramatic recapture of Los Choneros leader Adolfo Macías in June following his escape from a maximum-security facility. He was extradited to the United States the following month to face drug and weapons charges. U.S. officials say Los Lobos emerged from within Los Choneros as a hired-gun faction that later split off, gaining power amid fractures in the older gang’s hierarchy. The group has been accused of orchestrating the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023, fueling deadly prison uprisings, and expanding into murder-for-hire and illegal mining operations in addition to its drug-trafficking activities.
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