Mexican federal forces captured a top leader of a deadly Ecuadorian drug trafficking gang and transferred him to Colombia, which quickly deported him to Ecuador. Ángel Esteban Aguilar Morales, an Ecuadorian national, is a boss of Los Lobos, or The Wolves, a transnational criminal organization that the United States State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in September 2025. Aguilar was wanted in Colombia and Ecuador in connection with the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.
Members of the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy (MARINA), Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), and the National Institute of Migration (INM), with intelligence help from the Colombian National Police, arrested Aguilar in Mexico City. He had identified himself as Juan Carlos Montero Mestre, a Colombian citizen.
Omar García Harfuch, Mexican secretary of security and human protection, later confirmed the detainee was the “leader of the criminal group ‘Los Lobos’” in a post on the social networking platform X. “He has a red notice from @INTERPOL_HQ and is linked to drug trafficking, extortion, and homicide activities,” García Harfuch said in the post. An Interpol Red Notice is a global alert used to locate fugitives worldwide.
The Mexican Security Cabinet, led by García Harfuch, learned of Aguilar’s arrival in Mexico during an intelligence operation, and real-time monitoring was established, a MARINA news release said. Later, with information provided by the Colombian National Police, Aguilar was located in the Miguel Hidalgo borough mayor’s office in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, the release said.
A coordinated operation was deployed with the MARINA Special Operations Unit and SSPC and INM teams, leading to Aguilar’s detention without any violence. That same day, Aguilar, known as Lobo Menor or “Little Wolf,” was transferred to Bogotá, Colombia, where he was intercepted at El Dorado Airport by migration authorities.
In a post on X, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said: “The detention for extradition purposes of the top leader of the GAO [Organized Armed Group] Los Lobos … marks Lobo Menor as the mastermind behind the political assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. …. This outcome represents a significant blow against transnational organized crime.”
Colombian police said Aguilar had entered Mexico from Medellín, Colombia, The Associated Press reported. He used a forged passport with the “express purpose of strengthening criminal networks in the region,” the police said.
The day after Aguilar’s arrival in Colombia, authorities there deported him to Ecuador. Aguilar was seen arriving at the Guayaquil Air Police Station on the night of March 19 under heavy military and police escort.
Mexico severed ties with Ecuador in April 2024 after Ecuadorian police entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito, the capital, to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had been granted political asylum. Mexico said in April 2025 that it would not restore relations while President Daniel Noboa remains in office.
In February, Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office released new evidence seeking to formally implicate three people, including Aguilar, in the Villavicencio assassination. Aguilar and the others allegedly played a logistical and operational role in the murder on August 9, 2023, as the presidential candidate was leaving a political rally in Quito.
Los Lobos is involved with contract killings, extortion and the sale and distribution of drugs. “Their ultimate goal is to control drug trafficking routes through Ecuador by terrorizing and inflicting brutal violence on the Ecuadorian people,” the State Department said in a news release announcing Los Lobos’ designation as an FTO.
Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, testified March 17, 2026, before the House Armed Services Committee about the continuing dangers of FTO-designated cartels. “Escalating inter- and intra-cartel violence remains a concern as rival groups fight for control of territory and trafficking routes. … As U.S. military and law enforcement operations increase the strain on these organizations, their leaders may grow more willing to engage U.S. forces.”