Before dawn on February 10, police broke down the door of one of Ecuador’s most powerful politicians. By the time Guayaquil — a sweltering Pacific port city of nearly three million people — woke up, its mayor was in handcuffs, his brothers were in custody, and investigators had carted away phones, cash, and documents from multiple locations across the province.
A month later, Aquiles Álvarez remains locked inside the Cotopaxi prison, high in the Andean highlands, hundreds of kilometres from the city he was elected to lead. On March 8, a criminal court added a second layer to his detention: a new preventive prison order in a fuel-smuggling case, on top of the money laundering charges that put him there in the first place.
Two Cases, One Family Business
Álvarez faces two parallel investigations. The first, dubbed “Triple A,” has been running since 2024 and centres on the alleged illegal trafficking of subsidised fuel. Prosecutors say a network diverted more than 22 million gallons of government-subsidised hydrocarbons, causing $61 million in losses to the state. The government’s complaint names companies in which Álvarez and two of his brothers — Antonio and Xavier — hold stakes.
The second case, called “Goleada,” is a broader money laundering and tax fraud probe that triggered his February arrest. Prosecutors detained 11 people, including the Álvarez brothers and directors of Barcelona Sporting Club, Ecuador’s most popular football team. The prosecution says the two cases are intertwined: fuel profits allegedly laundered through a web of family companies and the football club.
The Ankle Monitor That Disappeared
The latest court ruling turned on a specific fact. Álvarez had been ordered to wear an electronic ankle monitor as part of the earlier Triple A case, but when police arrived at his home in February, he was not wearing it. Prosecutors presented a technical report from Ecuador’s prison service confirming that Álvarez had removed the device himself — something only authorised officials are permitted to do. The judge ruled this constituted a grave violation of his bail conditions and revoked the alternative measures entirely.
Political Persecution or Law Enforcement?
The case has split Ecuador along familiar political lines. Álvarez was elected mayor in 2023 as the candidate of the Citizen Revolution movement, the left-wing party of former president Rafael Correa. His victory ended 30 years of right-wing rule in Guayaquil and made him one of the most prominent opposition voices against President Daniel Noboa, who won re-election in April 2025.
Álvarez has accused Noboa of orchestrating a vendetta, claiming the government wants to convict him before the October 2026 candidate registration deadline — effectively barring him from seeking re-election or higher office. His deputy mayor, Tatiana Coronel, framed the arrest bluntly: anyone who causes inconvenience to the government will suffer consequences. The Correa-aligned bloc in the National Assembly has called the prosecution a “kidnapping.”
The Government’s Counter-Argument
Noboa’s allies reject the persecution narrative. They point to $61 million in alleged fuel theft, documented corporate holdings, and a defendant caught without his court-ordered ankle monitor. Ecuador’s attorney general has insisted the investigation is evidence-driven. Supporters argue that opposing the government does not grant immunity from criminal law, particularly when the accused ran a family fuel empire before entering politics.
Why This Matters Beyond Ecuador
Guayaquil is not just Ecuador’s largest city — it is the country’s commercial capital and Pacific trade gateway. The city recorded 1,900 homicides in the first nine months of 2025, the worst toll in the nation, and Álvarez had positioned himself as the most prominent critic of Noboa’s militarised security strategy. His removal from the political stage reshapes the opposition landscape at a moment when Ecuador is struggling with record violence, drug trafficking, and a fragile economy.
For a country that has cycled through political crises at dizzying speed in recent years, the jailing of Guayaquil’s mayor is one more test of whether its institutions can separate justice from politics. The answer, as always in Ecuador, depends on whom you ask.