QUITO, Jan 24 - The United States has initiated legal action against Wilmer Geovanny Chavarria Barre, widely known by the alias "Pipo", a move Ecuador's interior minister says opens the door to a direct extradition from Spain to U.S. custody. Interior Minister John Reimberg announced on X late on Friday that the U.S. Attorney's Office had begun proceedings against Chavarria, describing the international coordination that led to the filing as "strategic and firm".
Chavarria was arrested in Malaga in November during an operation that Ecuadorean and Spanish police carried out together. President Daniel Noboa publicly disclosed the capture on November 16, calling it an important achievement in his government's campaign against powerful criminal gangs in Ecuador.
Ecuadorian authorities have accused Chavarria of a range of criminal activity. Officials say he managed drug trafficking routes tied to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel and exercised control over illicit mining operations. They have also alleged that he faked his own death, adopted a false identity and took refuge in Europe while continuing to issue orders for killings inside Ecuador.
Interior Minister Reimberg has previously attributed a large number of homicides to Chavarria's command, saying the suspect was responsible for at least 400 deaths and that he continued to direct criminal operations even while imprisoned between 2011 and 2019.
"No shelters, no borders and no impunity," Reimberg said, framing the case as evidence of persistent international cooperation against organized crime.
Los Lobos, the gang Chavarria is alleged to lead, is considered one of the largest drug trafficking organizations operating out of Ecuador. The group, alongside the rival gang Los Choneros, was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in September.
The arrest and the U.S. filing come against a backdrop of rising violence in Ecuador. President Noboa has pursued a tough security approach, including deploying the military to confront gangs, as the country confronts what officials describe as its worst wave of violence in decades. Authorities and analysts caution, however, that removing senior gang figures can also have destabilizing effects, potentially triggering further clashes as rival groups contest territory and influence.
With the U.S. Attorney's Office having initiated proceedings, Ecuadorian officials say the path is now open for a direct extradition from Spain to the United States. The case underscores sustained cross-border cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the region and in Europe in addressing transnational organized crime.