Overview
- Spain’s Interior Ministry said he was detained in Málaga after arriving from Morocco and was initially held over falsified documents.
- Spanish National Police confirmed the Málaga arrest as Ecuador’s president thanked both countries’ forces for coordinating the operation.
- Ecuadorian authorities say Chavarría faked his death in 2021, assumed a new identity in Europe, and continued ordering assassinations and managing drug routes and illegal mining.
- Officials attribute at least 400 deaths to him and link Los Lobos to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel, with the group sanctioned by the U.S. in June 2024 and designated a foreign terrorist organization in September 2024.
- The capture coincided with a national referendum on allowing foreign military bases to return, with reported results showing voters rejected the proposal.