<div><main data-testid="main-content" id="main-content"><article><header></header><div data-component="image-block"><figure><p><span><picture><source srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg.webp 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg.webp 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg.webp 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg.webp 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg.webp 800w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg.webp 976w" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="Photo released by the Ecuadorean police of the suspect named as Jaime Enrique S.C." height="549" loading="eager" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg 800w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/AE30/production/_131829544_f_5teymweaa68ja.jpg 976w" width="976"></img></picture></span><span role="text"><span>Image source, </span>Ecuador Police</span></p><figcaption><span>Image caption, </span><p>Police released a blurred photograph of the suspect</p></figcaption></figure></div><div data-component="byline-block"><div><div><div><p>By Vanessa Buschschlüter</p><p>BBC News</p></div></div></div></div><div data-component="text-block"><p><b>Police in Ecuador say they have arrested an alleged leader of Los Lobos, a powerful criminal organisation specialised in drug trafficking. </b></p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>The man, named only as Jaime S.C., was armed and carrying a large sum of money when police stopped his luxury car in the port city of Puerto Bolívar. </p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Gunmen believed to belong to his gang opened fire as the officers transferred Jaime S.C. to police headquarters. </p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>One policeman was injured in the shooting.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Soldiers deployed to guard the police HQ where the suspect was locked up were later also fired upon.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>In a statement, police said Jaime S.C. had been carrying $13,500 (£11,000), the provenance of which "he could not explain".</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Los Lobos (The Wolves) is estimated to have 8,000 members and has become one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the Andean country. </p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Many of its members are in jail but the gang continues to operate from behind bars and is accused of having instigated some of Ecuador's bloodiest prison riots.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>The gang is also thought to have links with the Mexican Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), for which it smuggles cocaine from Colombia through Ecuador's port cities to the US and Europe.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Ecuador has been engulfed by a wave of violence which has seen its murder rate quadruple between 2018 and 2022.</p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>Daniel Noboa, who was sworn in as the country's new president on Thursday, has promised to tackle drug trafficking and break the stranglehold the gangs have on the country. </p></div><div data-component="text-block"><p>On his first full day in office, he repealed a policy that allowed for the possession of small amounts of drugs, arguing that it had encouraged micro-trafficking in schools and "created an entire generation of drug-addicted children".</p></div></article></main></div>