Angel Esteban Aguilar is suspected of masterminding the 2023 assassination of an Ecuadorian presidential candidate.
Law enforcement authorities have announced that the leader of the Ecuadorean crime group Los Lobos was arrested at the international airport in Mexico City, where he attempted to enter the country under a false identity.
The effort on Wednesday to apprehend Angel Esteban Aguilar, known as “Lobo Menor”, was described as a collaborative effort from Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador.
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“This result represents a significant blow against transnational organised crime and confirms the effectiveness of trilateral cooperation,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a social media post.
Petro described Aguilar as “one of the world’s most notorious assassins” and confirmed that he had been extradited to Colombia to face charges.
Ecuadorean Interior Minister John Reimberg also hailed Aguilar’s arrest as a success.
On social media, he explained that Ecuador’s national intelligence branch and its national police participated in the arrest alongside their counterparts in Mexico and Colombia. His message offered a warning to cartel leaders.
“No matter where they hide, we will find them, and we will catch them,” Reimberg wrote.
Ecuadorean authorities had sought Aguilar in connection with the 2023 assassination of anticorruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was running for president at the time.
Aguilar has been described as the “mastermind” behind Villavicencio’s fatal shooting, which took place as the candidate left a campaign rally near the Ecuadorian capital Quito.
In Colombia, Aguilar has also faced accusations of collaborating with the alleged drug-trafficker Ivan Mordisco, the leader of the rebel group Estado Mayor Central (EMC). He had been the subject of an ongoing manhunt in the country.
The announcement comes amid pressure from United States President Donald Trump, who has demanded that leaders across Latin America take a more aggressive approach towards crime and drug trafficking.
The US president has threatened military strikes on Colombia and Mexico, accusing their left-wing governments of allowing cartels to operate unimpeded.
Colombia and Mexico, however, have rejected such allegations and have instead highlighted their records of drug seizures and arrests.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, for instance, has touted a drug bust last November that resulted in the confiscation of $388m worth of cocaine, a historic amount.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken action against high-profile criminal figures.
Last month, her government launched a military operation against the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”, resulting in his death.
In announcing Wednesday’s arrest, Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch accused Aguilar of being “linked to drug trafficking, extortion and homicide activities”
“This action reflects our nations’ shared commitment to combating transnational organized crime,” Harfuch said in a statement.
The collaborative effort contrasts with recent disputes between Petro’s government and Ecuador’s right-wing President Daniel Noboa.
Starting on March 1, Noboa placed heavy tariffs on Colombian goods as penalty for what he said was a lax approach to drug enforcement.
Earlier this week, Petro accused Ecuador of carrying out strikes around Colombian territory, with 27 charred bodies found near the countries’ shared border.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has publicly weighed launching its own military strikes on Colombia and Mexico, earning rebukes from local politicians who view such threats as a violation of their national sovereignty.
The Trump and Noboa recently agreed to participate in joint military operations in Ecuador.
Critics, however, have warned that their hardline approach to crime may not be effective and could increase the likelihood of security forces committing abuses.
