QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadorian authorities said on Saturday they had captured the leader of a powerful gang, Los Lobos, accused of involvement in the assassination of the country’s anti-corruption presidential candidate last August.
Ecuador is struggling to keep violence under control amid a 90-day state of emergency declared to crack down on 22 gangs, including Los Lobos, which are considered terrorist groups.
During the capture of a man known under the alias Vicente, authorities reported that two alleged criminals were injured. The soldiers also made 12 arrests and confiscated $200,000, as well as several types of weapons, ammunition and explosives.
Last month, the attorney general’s office said five suspects accused of involvement in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was killed in Quito before the election, would stand trial.
Two Los Lobos leaders accused of planning Villavicencio’s assassination have already been jailed.
Villavicencio, a former lawmaker and militant journalist, was shot while leaving a campaign event, becoming the most high-profile victim of the country’s surge in violence.
Ecuadorian authorities generally do not publish the full names of people on trial. Los Lobos has thousands of members, according to some reports, and also runs operations within Ecuador’s violent prison system.