Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. Photo: EFE.
Ecuadorian drug trafficker Wilmer ChavarrĂa, alias Pipo, considered the top leader of the Los Lobos gang, denied his alleged participation in the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, which occurred in August 2023 in Quito, and accused the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, of ordering the crime. ChavarrĂa made these claims on Wednesday, February 25, during his appearance at the Prosecutor’s Office of Zaragoza, Spain.
ChavarrĂa appeared in court at the request of the Attorney General’s Office of Ecuador, accompanied by his lawyer and under strong police custody. Three agents of the Spanish National Police and four members of special police forces were present in the stagecoach. ChavarrĂa is detained in Zuera prison, in Zaragoza, while the extradition process requested by Ecuador is going on.
According to sources close to the drug lord’s defense, he answered the questions asked by the prosecutor of the International Cooperation Unit, as well as those of his lawyer, but refused to answer the three questions sent from the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office.
In his statement, he said that a person close to Ecuadorian Interior Minister John Reimberg revealed to him that the crime was ordered by current President Noboa, fearing that Villavicencio might outrun him in the presidential elections of 2023.
ChavarrĂa said that the Ecuadorian authorities are trying to manipulate the information so that Spain authorizes his extradition, either to Ecuador or to the United States, a country that also wants him for drug trafficking charges.
“The intention of both Noboa and Reimberg is to deceive the Spanish authorities,” said the detainee, adding that, if sent to Ecuador, he fears for his life, while in case of being extradited to the United States, the authorities of that country “want him to testify against former President Rafael Correa, with whom I am not acquainted.”
The leader of Los Lobos also claimed that he had received threats from Minister Reimberg while he was detained in Málaga. According to his version, the threats occurred in a room with security cameras. “I ask you to review the recordings, because there is evidence of what happened,” he said. He added that both the minister and President Noboa are tring to “take me out of circulation for being a competitor in the drug trafficking market, where the president is playing an important role.”
The detainee said that his statement was motivated by the trust he has in the Spanish authorities, considering that “they will not allow the recording that mentions Noboa’s participation in the murder of Villavicencio to disappear.”
The Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office recently charged Wilmer ChavarrĂa as an alleged participant in the planning of the assassination, in a process that also involves a group of business owners investigated for corruption cases filed by Villavicencio and former Minister JosĂ© Serrano. The Ecuadorian authorities maintain that the masterminds of the crime sought to prevent the progress of the investigations initiated by the then candidate.
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Journalist and politician Fernando Villavicencio was murdered on August 9, 2023, at the end of an electoral rally in the north of Quito. The attack was carried out by seven Colombian hitmen, five of whom were convicted as material perpetrators. The others died in prison before giving their testimony. Villavicencio stood out for his allegations of state corruption and links between drug trafficking and political power.
Meanwhile, Wilmer ChavarrĂa was arrested on November 15, 2025 at Málaga airport, the same day that a key referendum promoted by President Noboa was held in Ecuador. The Spanish authorities maintain the pre-trial detention order in force while his extradition request is being evaluated.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/CB/SC
Cameron Baillie is an award-winning journalist, editor, and researcher. He won and was shortlisted for awards across Britain and Ireland. He is Editor-in-Chief of New Sociological Perspectives graduate journal and Commissioning Editor at The Student Intifada newsletter. He spent the first half of 2025 living, working, and writing in Ecuador. He does news translation and proofreading work with The Orinoco Tribune.
