The United States has imposed sanctions on Los Lobos, a powerful crime gang based in Ecuador with ties to violence across the country and drug trafficking in the surrounding region, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday.
Sanctions were imposed on the human trafficking organization and its leader, Wilmer Geovanny Chavarria Barre, who also goes by “Pipo,” the Treasury Department said in a press release. U.S. officials consider Los Lobos the largest drug trafficker in Ecuador and say the gang “contributes significantly to the violence gripping the country.” The network includes thousands of members, backed by the Mexican cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – New Generation – and the Sinaloa Cartel, making the gang particularly dangerous.
“Drug trafficking groups linked to powerful drug cartels threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities in Ecuador and across South and Central America,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in a statement accompanying the announcement of the sanctions. “As today’s actions demonstrate, we steadfastly support Ecuador in its efforts to combat drug trafficking and counter the threat of drug-related violence.”
The US imposed similar sanctions on another Ecuadorian organized crime group – Los Choneros – in February, as the country grappled with escalating gang violence in the wake of the disappearance of Los Choneros leader José Adolfo Macías Villamar from his prison cell early this year . January. Los Lobos and Los Choneros have become rival forces.
Karen Toro/REUTERS
At the time, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa labeled nearly two dozen crime gangs, including Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as terrorist groups and said the U.S. Treasury Department said a state of “internal armed conflict” had gripped the country. Most recently, in May, Noboa declared a new state of emergency for seven of Ecuador’s 24 provinces due to ongoing gang violence.
U.S. officials say Los Lobos emerged as a branch of hitmen working within Los Choneros, which came to power independently in 2020 when the killing of a former Los Choneros leader caused cracks in the gang’s chain of command. Los Lobos is accused of the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, Ecuador’s 2023 presidential candidate. Gang members are allegedly responsible for deadly prison riots, drug trafficking, contract killings and illegal gold mining.
They also provide security services for the Jalisco cartel, which the Treasury says contribute to the cartel’s stronghold on the cocaine smuggling routes around the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil. The The US State Department is considering New Generation “one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world.”
