The alleged mastermind behind the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito has been arrested in Mexico City’s affluent neighborhood of Polanco following a coordinated operation involving Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia.
The suspect, who went by the name of Juan Carlos Montero Mestre but whose real name is Ángel Esteban Aguilar Morales, aka “Lobo Menor,” had an arrest warrant for the murder of Villavicencio three years ago. He is also considered one of the leading members of the Ecuadorian gang Los Lobos.
According to Mexico’s Security Minister Omar García Harfuch, Aguilar was on Interpol’s red notice list and linked to drug trafficking, extortion and homicide.
Ecuadorian Interior Minister John Reimberg said the suspect would be held in the Encuentro Prison, a maximum security center that Ecuador President Daniel Noboa’s government designed based on the prison model of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.
“Hide wherever you hide, we will find you and capture you. Lobo Menor: The Encounter awaits you,” Reimberg wrote on his official X account, in a message directed to wanted criminals.
Aguilar’s capture occurred on Wednesday in the Polanco area of Mexico City, following a coordinated operation by the Navy’s Special Operations Unit, the Security and Citizen Protection Minister and the National Institute of Migration.
ALIAS “LOBO MENOR” CABECILLA DE LOS LOBOS, DETENIDO EN MÉXICO.
Ángel Esteban Aguilar Morales, alias “Lobo Menor”, cabecilla del grupo criminal “Los Lobos”, tiene orden de captura por estar procesado en el caso del asesinato de Fernando Villavicencio, consiguió papeles falsos con…
— John Reimberg (@JohnReimberg) March 18, 2026
The Mexican Security Cabinet indicated that they received a tip about Aguilar’s arrival in the country and, in collaboration with Colombia’s intelligence, tracked him down to the Polanco neighborhood.
In a post on his official X account, Colombian President Gustavo Petro described him as “one of the world’s greatest killers,” as well as one of Ecuador’s most wanted criminals, linking him with Mexican cartels and Iván Mordisco, Colombia’s top public enemy.
Petro alleged that Aguilar was the mastermind behind the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and that his capture “constitutes a significant blow against transnational organized crime.”
Furthermore, he reaffirmed “the effectiveness of trilateral cooperation between Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico in the fight against multi-crime networks.”
Los Lobos is an Ecuadorian criminal organization considered to be one of the largest and most violent gangs in the country. They have created alliances with other Ecuadorian groups and have forged relationships with international criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels, to move cocaine and exploit illegal gold mining.
With reports from El País, El Universal and EFE
