The Ecuador takes up the leader of the sought-after gangs in the United States more than a year after his prison escape
Quito, Ecuador – A fugitive drug trafficker sought by the authorities of the Ecuador and the United States was picked up more than a year after his prison flight in the Andean nation, the Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa announced on Wednesday.
José Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito”, who directed a gang called “Los Choneros” in Ecuador and was charged in New York for importing thousands of cocaine books in the United States, was captured in the Ecuadorian city of Manta, his country of origin, said Ecuador officials.
Interpol had issued an arrest warrant against Macias after his mysterious prison prison in early 2024 in the regional prison of Guayaquil, where he served a 34 -year sentence for drug trafficking. The Ecuadorian authorities have not yet explained how he escaped. They only learned his escape when a military quota arrived to transfer him to another maximum security prison but did not find him in his cell.
The Ecuadorian army has confirmed Macias’s reuptake in what seemed to be the basement of a house. A video provided by the army showed the moment of arrest, with a uniform officer aimed at a firearm at the head of the drug trafficker, who gave his full name. The police had found it hidden in a small hole under what seemed to be a kitchen counter.
The announcement of Wednesday of his arrest comes from the same week as Federico Gómez, alias “Fede”, the chief of another gang called Las Aguilas, was confirmed that he escaped from an Ecuadorian prison.
Last year, American lawyer John Durham said in a press release that Macias had led Los Choneros and his “network of assassins and drug traffickers” since at least 2020.
With a vast criminal record comprising accusations of murder and organized crime, Macías cultivated a cult status among the other members of the gangs and the public in his country of origin.
While behind bars in 2023, he published a video addressed to “the Ecuadorian people” when he was flanked by armed men. He also launched holidays in prison, where he had access to everything, from alcohol to roosters for combat matches.
The indictment of seven non-sealed charges in Brooklyn accuses Macías and an unidentified co-owner with the international distribution of cocaine, the conspiracy and the counts of arms, including the smuggling of firearms in the United States.
Los Choneros has used people to buy firearms, components and ammunition in the United States and pass them into equate, according to the indictment. Cocaine would flow in the United States with the help of Mexican cartels.
“Los Choneros has exploited a large network responsible for the shipment and distribution of multiple quantities of cocaine from South America to Central America and Mexico in the United States and elsewhere,” said the accusation.
Last year, the United States ranked Los Choneros as one of the most violent gangs and confirmed its link with powerful Mexican drug cartels that threaten the Ecuador and the surrounding region.
The authorities of the Ecuador classified the gang as a terrorist organization. Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian government announced that the reward for the capture of Macías would be increased to $ 1 million.
