In brief
Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office has indicted former interior minister José Serrano along with seven others for allegedly orchestrating the 2023 assassination of opposition candidate Fernando Villavicencio outside Quito, just weeks before the presidential election. Serrano, together with Wilmer "Pipo" Chavarria, the head of the Los Lobos cartel, are accused of coordinating the hit, while other cartel affiliates are also implicated. Villavicencio was a prominent journalist-turned-politician known for his anti-corruption platform and accusations that organized crime infiltrated government corridors. Four of the convicted perpetrators were jailed in 2024, and the others remain fugitives in the United States, Venezuela and Spain, prompting Interpol red notices and extradition requests. The case underscores the entanglement of Ecuador’s political landscape with powerful transnational drug syndicates like Los Lobos and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Ecuador prosecutors have charged former interior minister José Serrano and six others with participation in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.
Serrano and Wilmer "Pipo" Chavarria, the head of the Los Lobos cartel, are implicated in the murder that occurred at a Quito campaign rally. Five members of the gang were already jailed over the hit in 2024, while Chavarria was captured in Spain after faking his own death.
Villavicencio, a former journalist and outspoken anti-corruption advocate, had repeatedly warned of ties between organised crime and government officials. Despite a security detail and numerous death threats, he continued to campaign publicly.
The indictment alleges that the defendants played an indirect role in the killing, with many having connections to Los Lobos, one of the country’s most powerful criminal organisations. The seven suspects are currently fugitives: Serrano and fellow accused Xavier Jordán are in the United States, Ronny Aleaga is in Venezuela, and Chavarria remains in Spain awaiting extradition.
The Attorney General’s Office has requested Interpol red notices to locate and extradite the suspects. In March, Ángel Esteban "Lobo Menor" Aguilar was arrested in Mexico City after a red notice was issued for Villavicencio’s murder.
Ecuador, positioned between Colombia and Peru—the world’s largest cocaine producers—has evolved into a key transit hub for illicit drugs. Cartels such as Los Lobos use corruption and violence to control supply routes, and they reportedly have deep links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Mexico.
