The Government of Panama yesterday sent its 'firm backing' to Ecuador for its 'decisive fight against organized crime' following the arrest in Spain of Wilmer Chavarría 'Pipo', the maximum leader of the criminal gang Los Lobos, the largest and most powerful in that South American country.
'The Republic of Panama expresses its firm backing to the Republic of Ecuador in its decisive fight against transnational organized crime, in which context the recent capture of the citizen known as Pipo Chavarría occurred,' states a communique from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chavarría, detained yesterday in Málaga (Spain), was the last great leader of Ecuador's criminal scheme left to be captured, after the heads of Los Choneros, Los Tiguerones, and the Chone Killers had previously fallen, with also arrests in Spain, Panama, and Colombia.
The Panamanian Government highlighted, in that communique, that it 'recognizes and values the coordinated effort between the Ecuadorian and Spanish authorities, whose joint work demonstrates the importance of international cooperation to face criminal networks that operate beyond national borders'.
