(MENAFN) Ecuadorian authorities have captured a top figure of the Los Lobos drug trafficking organization, who had faked his death and was hiding in Europe, according to reports.

President Daniel Noboa identified the individual as Wilmer "Pipo" Chavarria, who allegedly assumed a false identity to evade capture. Chavarria is accused of orchestrating murders in Ecuador, controlling illegal mining operations, and managing major drug routes in collaboration with Mexico’s Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel.

Interior Minister John Reimberg stated that Chavarria is linked to at least 400 deaths. Police chief Pablo Vinicio Davila Maldonado said the operation was carried out in Malaga, Spain.

Noboa highlighted that authorities were able to locate Chavarria despite reports of his death in 2021, thanking the combined efforts of Ecuadorian and Spanish law enforcement and stressing that international cooperation is essential to tackle transnational crime.

“We have captured the highest-value target. Today the mafias fall back. Today Ecuador wins,” he said.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau praised Ecuador’s success, calling Chavarria “one of the most notorious organized crime figures in Latin America.” He added that governments failing to combat such crime risk being complicit.

Los Lobos, linked to the US-designated terrorist groups Cartel de Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist in September. The US cited the cartel for targeting public officials, security forces, and journalists to maintain control over Ecuadorian drug trafficking routes.

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