“We have captured the most wanted criminal. Today the mafias are retreating. Today Ecuador is winning,” Noboa wrote on the X website.
Who was arrested in Spain?
What kind of gang is associated with Pipo?
What actions is the Ecuadorian government taking to fight crime?
How many people have died in prisons in Ecuador since 2021?
Wilmer Geovanny Chavarria Barre, known as “Pipo”, was arrested in Malaga, southern Spain, after arriving at the airport from Morocco under a false name, Spanish police wrote on social networks.
Chavarria faked his own death in 2021, and after obtaining a new identity, he moved to Europe, from where – according to Noboi – he was to order murders in Ecuador and manage drug routes.
Los Lobos is currently the strongest criminal group in Ecuador, competing with another gang – Los Choneros.
In recent years, Ecuador has been struggling with frequent outbreaks of unrest in prisons, where approximately 500 people have died since 2021. The Noboi government, which has announced its fight against crime, attributes the clashes to drug cartels.
During his visit to Ecuador in early September, US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio announced that President Donald Trump's administration had recognized two major Ecuadorian gangs as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
