Ecuadorian Police Captures 11 Members of the Gang, Los Lobos in an Armed Confrontation

Ecuadorian Forces, July 2024 Photo: @Dannyhp14

July 22, 2024 Hour: 6:34 pm

The National Police and the Armed Forces of Ecuador captured on the eve of this Monday eleven members of the criminal gang Los Lobos, two of them minors, following an armed confrontation at a mining camp in the southern Ecuadorian Andes.

The confrontation took place in a mine of the canton (municipality) Camilo Ponce Enriquez, where criminal gangs have been breaking into the area over the past few months to try and take control of mineral extraction in the area.

The police explained in a statement that the operation was launched after they received an alert about workers kidnapped by armed men in the area.

When they arrived at the scene, the police found no evidence of abduction but heard gunshots in a nearby mine.

¡Personal militar aprehendió a 11 miembros de "Los Lobos" en Camilo Ponce Enríquez!💪

➡️Tras un fuerte enfrentamiento armado, las @FFAAECUADOR realizaron una operación militar de incursión, búsqueda y aprehensión de 11 personas presuntamente vinculadas a los GAO "Los Lobos"… pic.twitter.com/ROECd5DFFU
— Ministerio de Defensa Nacional del Ecuador (@DefensaEc) July 22, 2024

Military personnel arrested 11 members of “Los Lobos” in Camilo Ponce Enríquez!
After a strong armed confrontation, the FFAAECUADOR
carried out a military operation to raid, search and arrest 11 people allegedly linked to the GAO “Los Lobos”…

After entering the site, they discovered several citizens who were trying to seize the mines and with whom they exchanged fire.

At the scene of the confrontation, two firearms were found, 276 rounds of hit bullets, 514 unfired rounds, five magazines, four mobile phones, a motorcycle that had been reported stolen, a telescopic sight, two balaclavas and a bulletproof vest.

Police also reported the seizure of material related to clandestine mining such as 300 detonators, 193 blocks of dynamite, 100 explosive capsules, four charges primed with explosives, 20 meters of detonating cord and seven meters of slow fuse.

The Lobos are one of the largest criminal gangs operating in Ecuador, having displaced other older ones such as Los Choneros in some areas of the country.

To organized crime gangs, mainly engaged in drug trafficking, they are attributed to the wave of violence that is plaguing Ecuador and which has led it to be the country with the most homicides per capita, recording 47.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, according to the Ecuadorian Crime Observatory.