In Ecuador, security forces have arrested José Patricio Aguas Muñoz, known as 'Antisana' or 'Cholú', who is allegedly the leader of 'Los Lobos', the country's most violent criminal group, and was also a protected witness in the investigation into the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023. Aguas was arrested in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos, bordering Colombia, in an operation carried out by the Police in coordination with the Armed Forces, according to Interior Minister John Reimberg. 'He was considered by the FGE (Attorney General's Office) a protected witness in the case of the murder of Fernando Villavicencio before becoming a fugitive and one of the main leaders of the aforementioned criminal structure,' the minister added on his X account. In addition to being a leader of this criminal group, the man had an arrest warrant for organized crime and a criminal record for drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession, and receiving stolen goods. The leader of 'Los Lobos' is also allegedly linked to other homicide cases registered in the province of Pichincha, whose capital is Quito. To date, three leaders of 'Los Lobos' have been linked to the investigation being carried out by the Attorney General's Office into the intellectual authorship of the crime against Villavicencio, gunned down on August 9, 2023, as he left a rally by seven Colombian hitmen, a few days before the first round of extraordinary elections. One of them is Wilmer Chavarría, alias Pipo, the supreme leader who was arrested in Spain in November and is awaiting extradition, the same one he is trying to block by launching unproven accusations against President Daniel Noboa for allegedly ordering the crime. Also Luis Arboleda (Gordo Luis), another leader of the criminal group who is imprisoned in the country's maximum security prison, and Esteban Aguilar (Lobo Menor), Pipo's stepson, who recently arrived at this prison after being arrested in Mexico in an operation supported by Colombian and Ecuadorian authorities. What do we know about those detained in the Villavicencio case in Ecuador? In this case, former correísta minister José Serrano, detained last year by the U.S. immigration service; the businessmen Xavier Jordán and Daniel Salcedo, linked to various corruption plots in Ecuador; and former correísta assemblyman and former leader of the Latin Kings Ronny Aleaga are also prosecuted as alleged intellectual authors. In addition, five people have been sentenced to prison as material authors of the murder, including Carlos Angulo, alias 'El Invisible', another leader of 'Los Lobos' who was also in charge of planning and logistics for the homicide from prison. While another eight implicated individuals, including seven Colombian hitmen hired for the execution of the crime, are dead.
