Ecuadorian Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty

SAN DIEGO - Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato, an Ecuadorian national and high-level drug trafficker, pleaded guilty in federal court today to international drug trafficking charges following his extradition to San Diego January 26, 2024.

Farfan had previously been designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059 for materially contributing to the illicit activities of major Mexican cartels to traffic cocaine into the United States.

Farfan pleaded guilty to a second superseding indictment returned by a federal frand jury on October 30, 2019. In his plea agreement, Farfan admitted that he led an extensive drug trafficking organization that distributed over 450 kilograms of cocaine in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and elsewhere, and that the cocaine was ultimately imported into and distributed within the United States. He also admitted that the organization bribed government officials and used firearms to further their drug trafficking activities.

As part of his plea, Farfan also agreed to forfeit over $899,000 of U.S. currency.

Farfan is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez on August 11, 2025, at 10 a.m.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle B. Martin and Ashley E. Goff.

DEFENDANTS Case Number 19CR1610-01-LL

Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato Age: 44 Ecuador

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

International Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine - Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 959, 960, and 963

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

Federal Bureau of Investigation