Ecuadorian authorities announced Saturday the arrest of a leader of a powerful gang, Los Lobos (The Wolves), accused of involvement in the assassination of a presidential candidate in August.

World News:
Ecuadorean law enforcement officials have announced the arrest of a prominent gang leader affiliated with Los Lobos, a group accused of the assassination of an anti-corruption presidential candidate last August.

According to officials, a military operation led to… pic.twitter.com/Pxun0GcEAu

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Despite a 90-day state of emergency and a state of war declared by President Daniel Noboa, the authorities are struggling to bring the situation under control and hit approximately 22 gangs, including Los Lobos, now classified as terrorist organizations.

During the military operation that led to the arrest of Vicente S., the authorities reported that two alleged offenders were wounded. In total, members of the Armed Forces made 12 arrests and seized $200,000 in cash and weapons, ammunition, and explosives.

Last month, the Attorney General’s office announced that five alleged moral perpetrators of the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was gunned down by a group of Colombian hitmen in Quito as he was leaving a campaign event, would be brought to trial.

Two leading members of the Los Lobos gang who are accused of planning the murder of presidential candidate Villavicencio, a former parliamentarian and journalist who fought for years against corruption, have already been imprisoned.

The assassination of the candidate shocked the country.

The Los Lobos gang is believed to have thousands of members, international connections (including the Mexican cartel New Generation of Jalisco, the Albanian mafia, etc.) and is considered a rival of the “Los Choneros” gang, the greatest public danger in Ecuador of the so-called “Fito”, whose real name is José Adolfo Macías.

Also read: Ecuador | Army operation seizes 22 tons of cocaine