Ecuador Jails 16 Los Lobos Suspects Pending Trial
SECURITY · ECUADOR
Key Facts
- —The country Ecuador, a country of about 18 million people between Colombia and Peru, uses the US dollar and is a major exit route for cocaine shipped by sea.
- —Why it matters Washington lists Los Lobos, the gang at the centre of the case, as a foreign terrorist organisation, so its finances are a US sanctions and terrorism concern.
- —Why now Primicias published details from the hearing record on Saturday 10 October, two days after police raids in Guayas and Los Ríos.
- —What happened A Quito judge ordered pretrial detention for 16 of 20 people charged with organised crime after a hearing that began on Thursday 8 October.
- —The numbers 21 detained in 23 raids; 20 charged; 16 jailed pending trial; 14 linked seizures of about 42.5 tonnes of cocaine, according to police.
- —What it means for you US firms buying Ecuadorian fruit, cacao or seafood face sharper checks on suppliers, because prosecutors say front exporters hid cocaine in such cargo.
- —Still open No trial date is set. The 90-day investigation phase may add suspects, and the defence disputes the evidence.
A judge in Quito has jailed 16 people pending trial in the Ecuador Los Lobos case, including the man police call a top financier of the gang. The 16 are among 20 people charged with organised crime over an alleged network that hid cocaine in export containers bound for Europe. It matters to US readers because Washington lists Los Lobos as a foreign terrorist organisation, which puts its money under US terrorism and sanctions law.
The ruling came out of a charging hearing that opened at 7 p.m. on Thursday 8 October, Primicias reported, and ran into Friday 9 October, according to the Guayaquil daily Extra. New details from the court record were published on Saturday 10 October by the Quito news site Primicias, which said it had seen the hearing minutes.
This is a follow-up to our report Ecuador Detains Alleged Los Lobos Financier in 23 Raids. All those charged are presumed innocent, and none has been convicted.
What the Judge Ordered
Judge Paulina Sarzosa of the Quito court for corruption and organised crime cases ran the hearing by video link, Primicias reported. Prosecutor Maricela García of the Fiscalía General del Estado, Ecuador’s national prosecutor’s office, charged 20 people with organised crime.
The judge granted pretrial detention for 16 of them, including Jackson Felipe Zambrano Morejón and his sister, Marian Gabriela Zambrano Morejón. Both Extra and Primicias reported the figure. Primicias added that the judge froze bank accounts and barred the sale of assets for the 90-day investigation phase.
Four people received lighter measures. They include a 69-year-old man and two breastfeeding mothers, Extra said. Extra reported they must report to prosecutors every 15 days and may not leave the country, while Primicias said the older man was placed under house arrest.
Police detained 21 people in the raids, but the court resolution Extra examined lists charges against only 20. Officials have not explained the gap.
Defence lawyers argued that the arrests were illegal because their clients were never told about an investigation that had run for two years. The judge rejected that, declaring the detentions legal and constitutional, according to Extra.
What Prosecutors Say the Network Did
Police call the operation Gran Fénix-Cantabria. It was run with Europol and Spanish police, according to Expreso, a Guayaquil daily. The case began with about 13,000 cocaine packages found in October 2024 at Algeciras in southern Spain, in a container that had left Guayaquil.
Police later tied 14 seizures of about 42.5 tonnes in Ecuador, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands to the group. They valued all the drugs seized in the case at US$1.765 billion. Officials say at least 15 front companies exporting fruit, cacao, seafood and timber hid the cargo.
The central evidence comes from Sky ECC, an encrypted phone network used by organised crime that European police cracked in March 2021. France shared the data through legal assistance, Primicias reported. A police analyst linked a phone number in those chats to a line registered to Zambrano from 2018 to 2023.
According to the record, Zambrano founded AllTransJJ, a haulage firm, in July 2023. Tax reports cited by Primicias say it was the main land carrier for Quality-Ecuatoriana, the exporter of the Algeciras container. That container held more than 13 tonnes of cocaine hidden among banana boxes.
Two police corporals were among those charged. Prosecutors allege they inspected the Algeciras container before loading at the port of Guayaquil and failed to detect the drugs.
The defence disputes this. Zambrano’s lawyer, César Cabrera, said AllTransJJ held a BASC security certificate for cargo logistics. He also argued that the Sky ECC chats date from January 2021, before the company existed.
At the Samborondón villa where Zambrano was arrested, police found a passage behind a wardrobe that led to an underground bunker, Primicias reported.
What It Means for You
The US State Department designated Los Lobos and Los Choneros as foreign terrorist organisations in a notice published on 5 September 2025, according to the Federal Register. Under US law, knowingly giving material support to such a group is a federal crime.
For US importers, the Ecuador Los Lobos case is a reminder to check who owns and moves their Ecuadorian suppliers’ cargo. Prosecutors say the network used ordinary exporters and haulage firms, not obscure shell companies.
For Ecuador, the hearing is a test of President Daniel Noboa’s crackdown on gangs. Noboa, a conservative businessman in office since 2023, said after the raids that “all of them will fall”. Our profile Daniel Noboa, Ecuador’s President, and His War on Gangs explains his security policy. The stabiliser here is the court: pretrial detention is not a verdict, and judges must still test the evidence.
What Is Not Known
No trial date has been set in the Ecuador Los Lobos case. It is not known whether the defence will appeal the detention orders or whether more people will be charged during the 90-day phase.
Officials have not said whether the 21st detainee faces a separate case. Officials have not said where the man the chats call “Thanos”, described as an operator of the network in Europe, is now.
Ecuadorian authorities have not said whether any US agency took part. No US charges against those detained have been reported.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jackson Zambrano?
Jackson Felipe Zambrano Morejón is a businessman from Guayas whom Ecuador’s Interior Ministry calls a main financier of alias Pipo, the top Los Lobos leader. He is jailed pending trial and has not been convicted.
What is Los Lobos?
Los Lobos is one of Ecuador’s largest criminal gangs. The US State Department designated it a foreign terrorist organisation in September 2025, alongside the rival gang Los Choneros.
Does the case affect US importers?
Not directly, but prosecutors say the network used fruit, cacao, seafood and timber exporters as cover. US buyers of Ecuadorian goods may face tighter supplier and container checks.
Sources: Primicias (10 October 2026); Extra (9 October 2026); Expreso (9 October 2026); US Federal Register, FTO designation of Los Choneros and Los Lobos (5 September 2025).
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error