Ronald Johnson, US ambassador to Mexico, highlighted the arrest of Ángel Esteban 'N', alias 'El Lobo Menor', in Mexico City. The suspect is linked to the murder of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and ties to the CJNG. Johnson stressed international cooperation against drug trafficking.
Ronald Johnson, US ambassador to Mexico, posted on his X account on March 21 about the arrest of Ángel Esteban Aguilar, alias 'El Lobo Menor'. The individual was detained three days earlier in the Polanco neighborhood, Miguel Hidalgo borough, Mexico City, where he was hiding using a fake ID as Colombian citizen Juan Carlos Montero Mestre, according to El Financiero citing South American and Mexican authorities. Johnson stated: “The detention of Ángel Esteban Aguilar, alias ‘Lobo Menor’, by Mexican authorities, linked to criminal activities in Ecuador and ties to the CJNG, underscores the importance of international cooperation to confront cartels, drug trafficking, and the violence they generate,” adding that the governments of Donald Trump and Claudia Sheinbaum send criminals the message that “they have nowhere to hide” internationally. 'El Lobo Menor' is identified as leader of 'Los Lobos', a group that emerged from the fragmentation of 'Los Choneros' and allied with the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). The organization operates in at least 16 Ecuadorian provinces with 8,000 to 10,000 members in cells controlling territories, extorting, and engaging in illegal mining. After arrest, he was extradited first to Colombia and then held in Ecuador's Cárcel del Encuentro, a maximum-security facility inspired by Nayib Bukele's model in El Salvador, as confirmed by Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reinberg. Other 'Los Lobos' members, like Luis Arboleda alias 'Gordo Luis' linked to Villavicencio's murder, are also there. The capture followed a coordinated operation by Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico after months of tracking.
