Wilmer Chavarria, aka ‘Pipo’, the alleged leader of the Los Lobos cartel was taken into custody, in Malaga, Spain on Sunday

Four years ago, the Ecuadoran drug lord, long on the US most wanted list, faked his own death and vanished

Pipo was taken into custody on Sunday in a joint operation between Spanish and Ecuadorian national police as he arrived in the Spanish city, having flown in from Morocco

In 2021, his family claimed he died of a heart attack caused by COVID, instead he fled Ecuador in 2022, using a forged Colombian passport after acquiring a fake Venezuelan ID

Chavarria underwent seven surgeries to alter his appearance and changed his name to Danilo Fernandez

Whilst on the run Chavarria allegedly, traversed Dubai, Morocco and several European countries

Cartel leader continued coordinating drug shipments, ordered assassinations in Ecuador and controlled illegal mining operations

Fugitive ‘Narco-terrorist’ Wilmer Chavarria, aka ‘Pipo, was arrested Sunday in Malaga, Spain, four years after he faked his own death and disappeared from his native Ecuador

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. 

Pipo Chavarria [center], the alleged leader of the Los Lobos cartel was taken into custody, in Spain on Sunday, where he had been traveling from Morocco. Long on the US most wanted list, in 2021 Pipo faked his own death and vanished

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, on a forged Colombian passport after acquiring 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.

‘The many faces of Pipo.’ After faking his own death in 2021, Chavarria [top left], underwent seven surgeries [photo montage], to alter his appearance. He also acquired a fake Venezuelan ID, with the new name of Danilo Fernandez 

Pipo cultivated an alliance with Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel, according to Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg, allegedly traveling through Italy, the Netherlands and Germany to oversee drug shipment operations.
‘He stayed at the most expensive hotels in Europe, money that came from drug trafficking, illegal mining and murder,’ Reimberg said.
In social media posts the minister who accused the drug kingpin of being ‘responsible for at least 400 deaths,’ called the arrest a ‘historic day’ for Ecuador.

Chavarria had flown into the Spanish city of Malaga from Morocco on Sunday November 16, using his new ID, Danilo Fernandez,but walked into the waiting arms of a joint Spanish and Ecuadorian task force

‘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.
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.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Azin also praised Chavarria’s arrest, another milestone in quest for law and order in the Latin American country which has been rocked by waves of violent crimes that began when gangs like Los Lobos took over the prisons in 2021 and killed any dissidents..
‘Some wrote him off as dead; we hunted him down in his very own hell,’ President Noboa wrote on X. ‘That’s the difference when there’s the will to fight for your country.
He also acknowledged the joint efforts of the Ecuadorian and Spanish National Police because ‘To combat transnational crime, international cooperation is a necessity.
‘We have captured the highest-value target,’ Noboa said, adding, ‘Today the mafias fall back. Today, Ecuador wins.’

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Azin was re-elected on a campaign of a military crackdown on the criminal gangs ravaging the Latin American country

Violence and murders have soared in Ecuador in recent years as it has become a major cocaine trafficking hub and rival gangs compete for control. The country now owns one of the worst murder rates in the world, and infamously has four of the world’s 10 most homicidal cities.
More troubling, the killings which spiked nearly 800 percent since 2018, are on track for a record this year of about 50 homicides per 100,000 residents.
Narco-trafficking cartels 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.
The gang has also been accused of assassinating municipal officials and journalists in their fight for control of ports along a key transit hub for cocaine produced in Columbia and Peru.
In June 2024, the United States Treasury announcing it was sanctioning the gang, claimed it had ‘thousands of members’ who significantly contributed to the rise in violence in Ecuador. Three months later, Los Lobos was designated a terrorist organization.

President Noboa in a post on X, applauded the praised arrest of Chavarria: ‘Today the mafias fall back. Today, Ecuador wins’

In Ecuador, Noboa’s attempt to stem the violence includes deploying soldiers to patrol the streets and to regain control of prisons once in the grip of the gangs.
US-born Noboa, a conservative not reticent in calling out US and European authorities to join his ‘war’ against ‘narco-terrorists,’ 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, Noboa met with US officials to discuss security and migration issues, including taking the bold step to offer US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a tour of a potential base for US troops. 
United States previously held a military base in Ecuador’s Pacific coast until 2009, when then left wing President Rafael Correa refused to renew the concession, banning foreign-held bases in a constitutional amendment. 
Following the unfavorable referendum, Noboa has affirmed that his government will ‘respect the will of the people’ and would continue to fight for the country that ‘everyone deserves.’