Fugitive gang leader Fabricio Colón Pico, one of Ecuador’s ‘most wanted’, captured in morning raid

Only hours after Ecuadorian voters approved sweeping new anti-crime measures, police announced the capture of the fugitive leader of one of the country’s most powerful criminal gangs. Fabricio Colón Pico, leader of Los Lobos, had been on the run since escaping prison in early January and was included among the country’s “most wanted” men.

Fabricio Colón Pico

Officials said they had traced 44-year-old Colón Pico, who had dyed his hair in an attempt to allude capture, to the town of Puerto Quito in western Pichincha Province.

Colón Pico had been accused of plotting to kill Attorney General Diana Salazar and his gang is believed to have been involved in last year’s assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicenio.

Los Lobos is estimated to have some 8,000 members and is thought to have links to the Mexican Jalisco New Generation cartel. Its members engage in drug trafficking and are accused of working as hitmen and have been implicated in bribing dozens of judges, police officers and prison guards.

Police said Colón Pico had been detained in the early hours of Monday “after several months of investigative work”.

Colón Pico was one of more than 30 inmates to escape from Riobamba prison on 8 January during a wave of prison riots and violent attacks which shocked the Andean country. The prison service said he had taken advantage of the chaos created by rioting inmates to walk out of the jail. Twenty of the fugitives were quickly rearrested, but Colón Pico managed to evade capture for months.

Following processing, police say he will be transferred to the maximum security La Roca prison in Guayaquil.