Equatorial prosecutors accused former interior minister José Serrano for helping to plan the high -level assassination of a presidential candidate in 2023, marking a crucial moment in the fight against corruption of the country.
On September 3, the Office of the Attorney General of the Ecuador officially charged four people for the brain of the infamous August 2023 murder by Fernando Villavicencio, a national assembly and a leading candidate during the 2023 presidential election. Serrano, who held the post of Minister of the Interior, from 2011 to 2016 under former President Rafael Correa, who held the post of Minister of the Interior, under former President Rafael Correa in 2017 and 2018.
Prosecutor presented Proof that Serrano was responsible for identifying the gaps in the security of Villavicencio. To do this, they said, he exploited his influence in the equator police forces, leading a team “composed of police officers, responsible for reporting the exact moment when the attack could be carried out”.
Serrano's lawyer denounced proof as “conjecture. “The judge presiding over the hearing was very critical of the arguments of prosecutors, in particular their requests for pre -trial detention for the suspects.
“We are not here to make a show, we are here to seek the truth,” said judge María Daniela Ayala.
Businessmen Xavier Jordan and Daniel Salcedo and the former National Assembly and the former National Assembly Latin kings member Ronny Aleaga. Jordan has been accused of directing and financed the murder operation, Salcedo to monitor the movements of Villavicencio, and Aleaga to be the link between Jordan and the assassins who made the blow. The accusation did not present a clear reason for the murder.
Jordan, Salcedo and Aleaga have already been involved MetastasisA massive corruption case which has shot a network led by the drug dealer Leandro Norero which was anchored in the highest scope of the Ecuadorian government. Only Salcedo was condemned in the case of metastases, while Jordan and Aleaga are still free.
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For his part, Serrano was arrested in Miami on August 7 by American immigration and customs application (ICE), Miami Herald reportedAnd is currently held in a detention center in southern Florida. Serrano's daughter, Verónica, said in statements to the Ecuadorian press that he had been arrested because of his immigration status. Although Serrano's arrest in the United States may not be linked to current investigations against him in Ecuador, he could now face expulsion or extradition to his country of origin, where he will face accusations of prosecutors.
The Ecuadorian authorities previously carried out numerous arrests and obtained convictions linked to the murder of Villavicencio. In October 2023, six Colombian citizens accused of links with the blow were murdered in prison. In July 2024, a court sentenced Carlos Edwin Angulo, alias “invisible”, at 34 years in prison for orchestrated the crime behind bars. Angulo would have led a cell of LobotOne of the most powerful criminal groups in the equator.
However, the Office of the Attorney General faced persistent criticism, especially of the Villavicencio family, for having omitted to discover the intellectual authors of the attack.
“The measure taken today by the prosecutor's office is important to ensure that this vile crime does not remain unpunished. However, we are still far from doing justice,” said Amanda Villavicencio, Fernando's daughter, on social networks August 18, following the Office of the Attorney General announcement of his intention to charge the four.
An analysis of insightful crime
The accusations brought against Serrano could further vibrate a political elite once considered untouchable. But that could also mark what criticisms have called a dangerous politicization of anti-corruption efforts.
The murder of Villavicencio was the most notorious act of violence in the recent history of the Ecuador. More than a leading presidential candidate, Villavicencio was a crusader and anti-corruption journalist who has repeatedly denounced cases of high-level transplants. His murder, only 11 days before the first voting round, became emblematic of the Ecuador's descent into a crisis of violence and crime from which he has not yet emerged.
“The message conveyed by this magnicide, which in reality was the killing of a journalist, is that these are the consequences you can face if you investigate 'too much' or if you dig into certain exits that can touch sensitive nerves in the country,” Mauricio alarcón Salvador, Executive Director of Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo, an Ecuadorian Anti-Corruption and Pro-Democracy Organization, Told Insight Crime.
Corruption in equator has long facilitated and protected organized crime and has drained state resources, and accusing the alleged brains of the murder of Villavicencio, the Office of the Attorney General seeks to rely on a series of recent success against the country's corrupt political elite.
See also: Treasure, corruption and legal machinations – Gerald's inheritance in Ecuador
In November 2024, the authorities obtained sentences against 20 people in the Metastasis affair, notably the head of the judicial council (judicial council) and the former prisons director, for their involvement in the Noirro network. In March 2025, the courts sentenced 10 other people, titled by the National Assembly Pablo Muentes and several high -level regional legal officials.
Serrano, a powerful – and controversial – politician could be the next one to fall. As Minister of the Interior in the 2010s, Serrano supervised a major drop in homicides as well as record drug crises, the latter earned him a price of the US Drug Encompement Administration. Throughout his mandate, he exercised close personal control over security and justice institutions and has retained a significant influence in these sectors even after leaving his post.
But the former minister also faced large accusations of corruption, in particular offer protection to Edison Washington Prada álava, alias “Gerald”, who was the most prolific drug trafficker of Ecuador before his Stop In 2017. Serrano continuously rejected links with drug trafficking while denying his presumed participation in many other cases involving extortion, removal and abuse of power.
Although Serrano's successful lawsuits are a great victory in the fight against corruption, the criticisms of the Office General of the Ecuador underlined the pressure of the institution to investigate the cases linked to the allies of Correa while ignoring the possible cases in other political blocks.
Alarcón shared this point of view, saying to Insight Crime that the prosecutor's office acted with “enormous selectivity”, in recent terms, including during the presidency of Correa. “We do not have an independent justice system,” he added.
Featured image: former Interior Minister José Serrano. Credit: El Comercio
