Seven people, including former Interior Minister José Serrano and the alleged leader of the Los Lobos criminal group, Wilmer Chavarría, are wanted by Ecuador prosecutors to stand trial over the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
Villavicencio was shot dead on August 9, 2023, as he left a campaign rally in Quito, days before Ecuador’s presidential election. He was a journalist and politician who built his political career on exposing corruption and organised crime.
The seven defendants are Serrano; businessman Xavier Jordán; former legislator Ronny Aleaga; Daniel Salcedo; and three alleged Los Lobos leaders: Chavarría, alias “Pipo”; Ángel Aguilar, alias “Lobo Menor”; and Luis Arboleda, alias “Gordo Luis". Prosecutors say they were involved in planning or carrying out the killing.
Prosecutors have described the defendants as alleged indirect perpetrators of the assassination. The case is separate from the prosecution of the gunmen who carried out the attack.
Five people have already been convicted as principal perpetrators in the murder. Ecuadoran media identified one of the convicted men as Carlos Angulo, alias "El Invisible”, who prosecutors said helped coordinate the operation from behind bars. Several other suspects were killed before they could be brought to trial.
The latest proceedings focus on whether prosecutors’ evidence is enough to send the seven defendants for a full trial. At hearings in June and July, prosecutors presented digital messages, testimony and other evidence in an attempt to establish the defendants’ alleged roles. The proceedings have already been challenged in court and a judge has rejected their validity
Prosecutors say Chavarría was involved in running the plot and received money related to the killing. They also accused Jordán of helping to finance the operation and said that other defendants played roles in organising or facilitating the attack. “These allegations have not been proven at trial.”
Some of the defendants are outside of Ecuador. Serrano and Jordán are in the US, while Aleaga is believed to be in Venezuela. Chavarría was not arrested in Spain until November 2025 and remains there pending proceedings for his possible extradition.
Ecuador has sought international cooperation to bring back suspects to the country. An Interpol Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action. It is not an international arrest warrant per se.
Before his assassination, Villavicencio had received death threats and was campaigning under heavy security. His death became one of the most powerful symbols of Ecuador’s widening battle against organised crime and political violence.
Daniel Noboa took office in 2023 and has since adopted a tougher approach to security, including greater military involvement in raids against criminal gangs.
Ecuador is a major transit country for drug trafficking, sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, two principal producers of cocaine. Organised crime groups like Los Lobos have expanded their power by way of violence, extortion and purported corruption.
The case remains open. The court must decide whether the prosecution has offered enough evidence to meet the legal standard to put the seven defendants on trial.
