Ecuador recaptures gang leader ‘Fito' indicted by US
Ecuador's
most-wanted fugitive, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal group, has been recaptured after escaping jail last year, the government has announced.
Jose Adolfo Macias, known as 'Fito,' disappeared from the Guayaquil prison where he was being held in January 2024, amid an explosion of violence including the on-air invasion of a television station by armed men and the hostage-taking of more than 200 prison officials.
'My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce,' said Ecuadorean president Daniel
Noboa, whose government had offered a reward of $1 million for information leading to Macias' capture.
Mr Noboa said Ecuador had requested Macias be extradited to the US, where he is set to face international drug and gun charges in a federal court in New York.
READ MORE
Macias was sentenced in 2011 to 34 years in prison for various crimes including drug trafficking and murder.
The United States imposed sanctions on Los Choneros last year, saying they have been involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s and accusing the group of being a key driver of escalating violence in the country since 2020, including within overcrowded prisons. - Reuters
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Irish Times
9 hours ago
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Ecuador recaptures gang leader ‘Fito' indicted by US
Ecuador's most-wanted fugitive, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal group, has been recaptured after escaping jail last year, the government has announced. Jose Adolfo Macias, known as 'Fito,' disappeared from the Guayaquil prison where he was being held in January 2024, amid an explosion of violence including the on-air invasion of a television station by armed men and the hostage-taking of more than 200 prison officials. 'My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce,' said Ecuadorean president Daniel Noboa, whose government had offered a reward of $1 million for information leading to Macias' capture. Mr Noboa said Ecuador had requested Macias be extradited to the US, where he is set to face international drug and gun charges in a federal court in New York. READ MORE Macias was sentenced in 2011 to 34 years in prison for various crimes including drug trafficking and murder. The United States imposed sanctions on Los Choneros last year, saying they have been involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s and accusing the group of being a key driver of escalating violence in the country since 2020, including within overcrowded prisons. - Reuters
RTÉ News
12 hours ago
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Ecuador's most wanted gang leader captured
Ecuador's president announced that the country's most-wanted fugitive, Los Choneros gang leader "Fito", had been recaptured over a year after his escape from prison triggered a wave of violence. "We have done our part to proceed with Fito's extradition to the United States, we are awaiting their response," President Daniel Noboa wrote on social media platform X. Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, also known as Fito, escaped custody in Ecuador in January 2024 and American prosecutors charged him, in absentia, with seven counts of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms-related crimes, including weapons smuggling. Macias Villamar's escape resulted in a surge of gang-related violence in Ecuador that lasted days and left about 20 people dead. Mr Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency in nearly a third of its provinces to quell the violence, but the drug lord was at-large until yesterday's announcement. The months-long manhunt ended with the president stating that Fito was in the custody of special military forces fighting narcotics trafficking. The army and police reported that he was captured during an operation in the city of Manta, a fishing port in the western part of the country considered a stronghold for his gang.
