José Serrano

José Serrano, a former interior minister of Ecuador, has been charged by prosecutors in connection with the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Villavicencio was fatally shot during a campaign event in Quito in 2023, just days before the general election. Serrano is implicated alongside Wilmer "Pipo" Chavarria, identified as the head of the cartel Los Lobos. This development places Serrano at the center of a high-profile investigation into a politically charged murder that significantly impacted Ecuador's electoral landscape. The charges highlight ongoing efforts by Ecuadorian authorities to bring those responsible for the assassination to justice and address the influence of organized crime in the country's political sphere.