Dramatic video footage has emerged showing the heart-stopping moment elite Ecuadorian forces captured a notorious alleged ‘narco-terrorist’ kingpin inside a heavily fortified prison.
The operation, which targeted the sprawling La Regional prison in the city of Guayaquil, led to the arrest of Fabricio Colón Pico, a senior leader of the feared Los Lobos gang. Authorities have labelled him a key figure in a campaign of terror that has gripped the nation.
A Nation Under Siege
Ecuador has been plunged into a state of crisis, with President Daniel Noboa declaring an ‘internal armed conflict’ against powerful cartels. The capture of Colón Pico is a critical victory in this war. He was wanted on charges of allegedly plotting the assassination of the country’s top prosecutor, Diana Salazar, and for his suspected role in a wave of extreme violence following the prison escape of another kingpin, Adolfo Macías.
Inside the Dramatic Raid
The released video shows heavily armed soldiers, part of the elite Joint Task Force (FTC), navigating the grim, darkened corridors of the prison. The tension is palpable as they methodically clear cells before finally apprehending Colón Pico, who offers no resistance. The operation was part of a wider security sweep across multiple prisons, resulting in the seizure of firearms, explosives, and drugs.
Colón Pico’s arrest signals a major blow to the criminal structures operating with impunity from within Ecuador’s penitentiary system. His gang, Los Lobos, is intricately linked with the powerful Venezuelan transnational criminal organisation, Tren de Aragua.
