On November 16, 2025, Spanish police, in collaboration with Ecuadorian authorities, achieved a dramatic breakthrough in the fight against transnational organized crime. Wilmer "Pipo" Chavarria, the elusive leader of Los Lobos—one of Ecuador’s most powerful and violent drug-trafficking gangs—was apprehended in the city of Malaga, Spain, after years on the run. Chavarria’s arrest marks a pivotal moment for Ecuador, a country that has seen an alarming surge in violence as it transforms into a critical hub for cocaine trafficking.
According to the BBC, Chavarria’s capture was the result of a carefully coordinated operation. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa himself confirmed the news, highlighting the significance of the moment. "Historic day," declared Ecuador’s interior minister John Reimberg on X, as he stood alongside Spanish police in Malaga. The photo released by Spain’s National Police showed Chavarria—dressed in a black and green tracksuit—being escorted by heavily armed officers toward a waiting patrol car, a stark image of a kingpin finally caught.
Chavarria’s story is the stuff of crime thrillers. In 2021, at the height of the COVID pandemic, he faked his own death, convincing even his family to claim he’d succumbed to a heart attack. With a new identity, he slipped out of Ecuador and into Europe. But the criminal empire he built was far from dormant. From Spain, Chavarria continued to orchestrate a sprawling web of illicit activities back home: drug shipments, political assassinations, extortion rackets targeting gold mines, and, according to The Independent, even ordering murders. President Noboa stated that Chavarria “continued to control criminal operations in Ecuador, including illegal mining and ordering murders,” while in hiding.
Los Lobos, under Chavarria’s leadership, grew into an organization of roughly 8,000 members—a staggering force in Ecuador’s underworld. The United States Treasury, which sanctioned Los Lobos in June 2024, described the gang as a group with “thousands of members” that has “significantly contributed to the increase in violence in Ecuador.” The US and Ecuador now officially classify Los Lobos as a terrorist organization, a rare designation that underscores the gang’s reach and brutality.
The gang’s tentacles stretch far beyond Ecuador’s borders. Los Lobos is closely linked with Mexico’s notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most dangerous criminal syndicates in the Americas. According to ABC News, the two groups have cooperated on large-scale drug shipments and have even shared expertise in violence and intimidation. Los Lobos is also accused of political assassinations, including the killing of a 2023 Ecuadorian presidential candidate, and is believed to have orchestrated some of the bloodiest prison riots in Ecuador’s recent history.
For Ecuador, a nation of 18 million that was once among the most peaceful in South America during the early 2010s, the rise of drug-fueled violence has been nothing short of a nightmare. As The Independent reports, Ecuador does not produce cocaine itself, but its location—sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s top producers—has made it a vital transit point. Rival gangs now battle for control of ports and coastal cities, turning once-quiet communities into battlegrounds. Homicides and violent crimes have spiked, and the carnage has not spared public figures: drug traffickers have attacked presidential candidates, municipal officials, and journalists alike.
Chavarria’s arrest comes at a moment of profound national debate. On November 17, 2025, Ecuadorians are heading to the polls for a four-part referendum, one of whose key proposals would amend the constitution to allow foreign countries to operate military bases on Ecuadorian soil. This is no small matter. The United States previously maintained a military base on Ecuador’s Pacific coast until 2009, when then-president Rafael Correa, a left-leaning leader, refused to renew the agreement and banned foreign military installations by constitutional amendment. Now, with violence spiraling, President Noboa is pushing to reverse that decision.
President Noboa has made no secret of his approach. He has defined his presidency by a tough military crackdown on criminal gangs and has repeatedly called for greater international cooperation. Earlier this year, he told the BBC that he wanted US and European armies to join his “war” against what he calls “narco-terrorists.” The US, for its part, is expanding its military footprint in the region, deploying troops and a naval strike force centered around the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. According to BBC reporting, the US has carried out at least 20 strikes on alleged narco-trafficking vessels in these waters, resulting in the deaths of at least 80 people—though some legal experts have raised questions about the transparency and legality of these operations.
The timing of Chavarria’s capture, just as Ecuadorians are asked to decide on the future of foreign military presence, is striking. President Noboa argues that reopening the country to US and other foreign bases is essential to stem the tide of drug-related violence and to strengthen anti-narcotics cooperation. His supporters say the move would bring badly needed resources and expertise, while critics worry about sovereignty and the potential for foreign entanglement.
Meanwhile, the fight against organized crime continues unabated. Earlier this year, Ecuadorian authorities arrested Carlos D, known as “El Chino,” the second-in-command of Los Lobos, in the coastal city of Portoviejo. And the government recently extradited the leader of Los Choneros—a rival gang from which Los Lobos originally splintered—to the United States, where he faces multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. According to US officials, Los Lobos first emerged as a branch of hitmen within Los Choneros, but rose to power independently in 2020 after a leadership vacuum left by an assassination.
Many Los Lobos members are now behind bars, but the gang’s influence remains formidable. Its involvement in murder-for-hire, illegal gold mining, drug trafficking, and prison violence has destabilized the country’s institutions and eroded public trust. The capture of Chavarria, while a major victory for law enforcement, is unlikely to end Ecuador’s crisis overnight. As history has shown, removing a kingpin often leads to new power struggles and, sometimes, even more violence in the short term.
Still, for a country desperate for good news, the image of “Pipo” Chavarria in handcuffs is a powerful symbol. Whether it marks a turning point in Ecuador’s battle against organized crime—or simply the end of one chapter and the beginning of another—remains to be seen.
