A major drug ‘terrorist’ kingpin long-sought by US authorities has been arrested in Europe four years after he faked his own death.
Wilmer Chavarria, aka ‘Pipo,’ was taken into custody on Sunday in a joint operation between Spanish and Ecuadorian national police as he arrived in the Spanish city of Malaga, where he had been traveling from Morocco, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Chavarria, the alleged leader of the notorious Los Lobos gang, was photographed being led by Spanish National Police to a patrol car, ending his years as an international fugitive.
The cartel leader’s family had claimed he died of a heart attack caused by COVID in 2021, but authorities say he fled Ecuador in 2022 with a forged Colombian passport after getting a fake Venezuelan ID.
To avoid detection, authorities said Chavarria underwent seven surgeries to alter his appearance and changed his name to Danilo Fernandez.
Since then, Chavarria has allegedly moved through Dubai, Morocco and Europe – staying at some of the most exclusive hotels – as he coordinated drug shipments, ordered assassinations in Ecuador and controlled illegal mining operations.
He would also travel through Italy, the Netherlands and Germany to oversee drug shipments therem police said, and would allegedly work hand-in-hand with Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel, according to Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg.
‘He stayed at the most expensive hotels in Europe, money that came from drug trafficking, illegal mining and murder,’ Reimberg said, adding: ‘There will be no impunity.’
Wilmer Chavarria, aka ‘Pipo,’ the alleged leader of the Los Lobos cartel was taken into custody in Spain on Sunday – four years after he faked his own death
Chavarria had flown into the Spanish city of Malaga from Morocco, where he was apprehended by Spanish and Ecuadorian national police
On social media, Reimberg hailed Chavarria’s arrest as a ‘historic day’ for his country, claiming the alleged drug kingpin is ‘responsible for at least 400 deaths.’
‘The message is direct and leaves no doubts, wherever they hide, we will go after them and we will find them,’ the interior minister declared.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who was re-elected on a campaign of a military crackdown on the criminal gangs ravaging the Latin American country, also praised Chavarria’s arrest.
‘Some wrote him off as dead; we hunted him down in his very own hell,’ Noboa wrote on X. ‘That’s the difference when there’s the will to fight for your country.
‘I recognize and thank the joint efforts of the Ecuadorian and Spanish National Police,’ he continued, arguing: ‘To combat transnational crime, international cooperation is a necessity.
‘We have captured the highest-value target,’ the Ecuadorian president concluded.
‘Today the mafias fall back. Today, Ecuador wins.’
The Latin American country has been rocked by violent crimes that began when gangs like Los Lobos took over the prisons in 2021 and killed any dissidents.
Authorities say that after he faked his own death, Chavarria underwent seven surgeries to alter his appearance
Today, Ecuador owns one of the worst murder rates in the world, WSJ reports.
Killings have increased in the country nearly 800 percent since 2018 and are on track for a record this year of about 50 homicides per 100,000 residents.
Ecuador is also home to four of the world’s 10 most homicidal cities.
Drug trafficking gangs like Los Lobos are often blamed for the crimes, with authorities in the country suspecting Los Lobos of being involved in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio on August 9, 2023.
Los Lobos gang members have also been accused of killing municipal officials and journalists in their fight for control of ports along a key transit hub for cocaine produced in Columbia and Peru, the New York Post reports.
Amid the chaos, the United States Treasury announced in June 2024 that it was sanctioning the gang, which it claimed had ‘thousands of members’ who significantly contributed to the rise in violence in Ecuador.
In September, the United States also designated Los Lobos a terrorist organization as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to take an offensive approach to drug cartels.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa was re-elected on a campaign of a military crackdown on the criminal gangs ravaging the Latin American country
He praised Chavarria’s arrest in a post on X even as he suffered a defeat on a referendum in his own country
In Ecuador, Noboa has deployed soldiers to patrol the streets and to retake prisons once controlled by the gangs in an attempt to stop the violence.
He has argued in an interview with the BBC that he wanted US and European armies to join his ‘war’ against ‘narco-terrorists.’
But he suffered a setback on Sunday when Ecuadorians voted against a measure that would allow foreign countries to run military bases in the nation in an effort to increase pressure on drug traffickers.
Ahead of the vote, the conservative leader met with US officials to discuss security and migration issues.
He even gave Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a tour of a potential base that could house US troops.
The United States held a military base in Ecuador’s Pacific coast until 2009, when then left wing President Rafael Correa refused to renew it and banned foreign-held bases constitutionally.
Following the vote, Noboa said in an X that his government will ‘respect the will of the people’ and would continue to fight for the country that ‘everyone deserves.’
