Ecuador Names ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, Leader Of The Sinaloa Cartel, As A Top Military Target.

Mica for cartelinsider.com

As part of their strategy to eradicate insecurity, known as ‘Plan Phoenix’, the government of Ecuador has decided to name Ismael Zambada García, the oldest leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, as one of their main “military targets of terrorist groups.”

During the night of April 18th, the government led by Daniel Noboa shared a list of “terrorist” criminals classified by levels without giving any further details other than their names, aliases, and criminal organizations they belong to.

Among them, ‘El Mayo’ stood out, recognized as the leader of the infamous Pacific Cartel since its foundation, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.

However, even though reports from the United States and Mexico mention that Zambada Garcia shares the leadership of the cartel with Los Chapitos, sons of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, and Aureliano Guzmán Loera, alias ‘El Guano’, he was the only one included in the list.

It should be noted that the US Department of Justice also wants the 76-year-old drug trafficker. The country offers a reward of 15 million dollars for information that leads to his conviction and/or capture.

It is clear from the list that Ecuador plays a significant role in the drug trafficking routes. It serves as a connecting country between the cocaine production in Colombia and the cartels in Mexico, who are responsible for distributing it to the United States.

During an event held on Thursday, Noboa himself made an announcement about a new listing. He mentioned that some names, which foreign governments provided, had never been made public. However, he did not reveal any of those names. In addition to “El Mayo” Zambada, the leaders of the dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) also appear on the list.

Giovanny Andrés Rojas, also known as ‘The Spider’, stands out, and it is believed that he is in charge of the border commands of the Second Marquetalia, the largest faction of the FARC dissidents.

One of the criminal bosses from Ecuador included in this list is José Adolfo Macías, also known as ‘Fito’. He is considered to be the leader of Los Choneros, which is the largest and oldest criminal gang that operates within the country. He has been on the run since the beginning of this year, after managing to escape from prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime, and murder.

Also listed is Wilmer Chavarría, also known as ‘Pipo’, who allegedly serves as the leader of Los Lobos, the main rival of Los Choneros, and is rumored to be running this criminal organization from outside Ecuador.

Likewise, in the group of The Wolves, is also Carlos Angulo, “The Invisible”, who the Ecuadorian Police has pointed as the alleged mastermind behind the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last year, whose crime he reportedly planned from prison.

Among them is Fabricio Colón Pico, ‘Captain Pico’, alleged lieutenant of Los Lobos. At the beginning of the year, during a series of simultaneous riots, he managed to escape after being arrested following a complaint by the Attorney General, Diana Salazar, of planning an attack against her.

With the declaration of “internal armed conflict” by President Daniel Noboa in early January, these criminal groups became classified as terrorist organizations and non-state belligerent actors to be neutralized by the police and armed forces.

With information from EFE.

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Mica

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