Beheadings & prison riots: Inside barbaric gang ‘The Wolves’ behind assassination of Ecuador gangbuster Villavicencio
BARBARIC mega-gang The Wolves have claimed responsibility for the assassination of aspiring Ecuador president Fernando Villavicencio.
The politician, 59, was known for speaking up against cartels and corruption before he was shot dead at a rally on Wednesday.
In his final speech before he was killed in the capital Quito, Villavicencio promised a roaring crowd that he would root out corruption and lock up the country's thieves.
A haunting video has now emerged on social media showing a hooded clan wielding weapons claiming responsibility for the shooting.
One of the men - dressed head to toe in black - warns that they will take action against "corrupt politicians", reports .
He said: "We want to make it clear to the entire Ecuadorian nation that every time corrupt politicians do not fulfill their promises to establish, when they receive our money, which is millions of dollars, to finance their campaign, they will be discharged."
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They also issued a chilling threat to another presidential candidate Jan Topic, warning: "You too, Jan Topic, keep your word. If you don't keep your promises, you'll be next."
Topic sent his condolences to Villavicencio's wife and five children before temporarily suspending his campaign activities after Los Lobos' cruel taunt.
Known for their inhumane antics such as beheading rivals, the fierce group - called Los Lobos, which translates to The Wolves - is the second largest gang in Ecuador.
They began as a splinter group of the country's most prominent criminal group, the Choneros.
Many of its 8,000 members are behind bars and have been behind a number of deadly prison fights and massacres.
It's understood they were involved in the bloody fight between rival gangs at El Litoral - Ecuador's largest men's prison in the city of Guayaquil.
Police and soldiers who were forced to storm the jail last month made the grisly discovery of dozens of bodies.
The violence and unrest spread throughout other prisons as inmates took guards hostage and battered other lags.
“Organized crime has gone too far but they will feel the full weight of the law.”
Villavicencio was one of eight candidates, though not the front-runner, for the August 20 vote.
The politician was the candidate for the Build Ecuador Movement.
Villavicencio was a vocal critic of corruption, especially during the tenure of former President Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017.
He was also an independent journalist who investigated corruption in previous governments, later entering politics as an anti-graft campaigner.
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His campaign adviser, Patricio Zuquilanda, had said that Villavicencio received several death threats before the shooting and reported them to the authorities.