At Málaga Airport, Spanish National Police have detained Wilmer Geovanni Chavarría Barre, known as Pipo, considered Ecuador’s most dangerous drug lord. He arrived on the Costa del Sol from Morocco using forged documents under the name Danilo Ramon Fernandez Calderon. The operation was the result of close cooperation between Spanish and Ecuadorian law enforcement.
Pipo led the criminal organization Los Lobos, which in recent years became the most influential group in Ecuador. He is linked to a series of bombings in Guayaquil aimed at intimidating the country’s president and undermining reforms in the prison system. According to police, the detainee faked his own death back in 2021 to evade capture, after which he obtained new documents in Venezuela and Colombia and moved to Europe. He did not stay long in Spain, frequently visiting the UAE and other countries.
Spanish authorities are currently waiting for an international arrest warrant (red notice) from Interpol to begin the extradition process. In Ecuador, Pipo is accused of leading the country’s largest criminal organization, which at one point cooperated with the Chone Killers gang. Los Lobos not only controlled the drug trade but also had ties to terrorist groups and skillfully evaded international justice.
International connections and influence
Ecuador’s Interior Minister, who arrived in Spain, stated that Pipo coordinated drug shipments and other crimes not only in Latin America but also in Europe — notably in the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. His group maintained close ties with Mexican and Colombian cartels, as well as European criminal networks. The arrest operation dealt a significant blow to organized crime in Ecuador.
Investigators estimate that Pipo was involved in at least four hundred murders. From 2011 to 2019, he ran criminal operations directly from prison cells. In recent years, he has been linked to a series of explosions in Guayaquil, carried out using cars and drones operated by inmates from La Roca prison. In just one year, four major attacks were recorded, all coordinated from behind bars.
Funding attacks and new alliances
The investigation revealed that part of the funding for attacks was coming from Spain. This allowed pressure to be put on Ecuadorian authorities and disrupted planned reforms in the prison system. The President of Ecuador highlighted that the operation’s success was possible thanks to cooperation with Spain and the United States, as well as well-coordinated efforts by all the agencies involved.
In recent years, Los Lobos have pushed out their rivals and become the dominant force in Ecuador’s criminal underworld. Their alliance with the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel has ensured a steady supply of cocaine to Mexico. In addition to drug trafficking, the gang has been heavily involved in illegal mining, and has also collaborated with former FARC militants to exploit resources in the Amazon.
