
Powerful Ecuador drug lord 'Fito' extradited to US
Known as "Fito", he was recaptured in June, almost a year after he escaped from a high-security prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for a series of crimes.
He will appear in a US federal court on Monday, where he will plead not guilty to international charges of drug and weapons trafficking, his lawyer told Reuters.
Macías was leader of Los Choneros gang, which is linked to powerful criminal organisations from Mexico and the Balkans. He is also suspected of having ordered the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.
Los Choneros is blamed for Ecuador's transformation from a tourist haven to a country with one of the highest murder rates in the region.
More than 70% of all cocaine produced in the world currently passes through Ecuador's ports. The country is located between the world's two top cocaine exporters, Colombia and Peru.In June, police tracked Macías down to what they described as an underground bunker below a luxury home in the city of Manta. He was taken to La Roca, a maximum security prison. At the time, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa praised the security forces for capturing him and said that he would be extradited to the US.The country's prison authority said he was taken out of prison in Ecuador earlier on Sunday to be handed over to US authorities."Mr Macías and I will appear tomorrow before the Brooklyn federal court ... where he will plead not guilty," his lawyer, Alexei Schacht, told Reuters. "After, he will be held in a to-be-determined prison."Ecuadoreans voted in favor of allowing the extradition of citizens in a referendum called by President Noboa, who vowed to crack down on rising crime.In March this year, Noboa told the BBC he wants US, European and Brazilian armies to join his "war" against criminal gangs. — BBC

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Asharq Al-Awsat
9 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Report: Brazil to Join South Africa's ICJ Case against Israel
Brazil will request to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. South Africa filed a case in 2023 asking the ICJ to declare that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. Other countries, such as Spain, Türkiye, and Colombia, had already asked the court to intervene in the case. The decision was reported earlier by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo and confirmed by Reuters.


Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
EU and Japan agree to work together to promote free trade and economic security
Leaders of the European Union and Japan launched an alliance Wednesday aimed at boosting economic cooperation, defending free trade, and countering unfair trade practices as the two sides face growing challenges from the US and China. The agreement followed a meeting among European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. It comes just as Tokyo and Washington reached a new trade deal, which places 15 percent tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods imported into the US, down from an initial 25 percent. The leaders agreed to launch a competitiveness alliance aimed at stepping up trade, economic security, and cooperation in innovation, energy, and other areas, according to a joint statement released by the EU. The leaders also supported a stable and predictable, rules-based, free, and fair economic order and reaffirmed the importance of Japan-EU cooperation to uphold a multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, as well as with other multilateral cooperation efforts. The EU and Japan also agreed to strengthen defense industry cooperation and to start talks on an information security agreement. Japan and the EU have been stepping up their security and defense cooperation amid growing global tensions and conflicts, including Russia's war on Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, and increasingly assertive China's military activity in Asia, recognizing that challenges in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable.


Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
TV director accuses UK culture secretary of ‘bullying' BBC over Gaza coverage
LONDON: Acclaimed TV director Peter Kosminsky has accused UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy of attempting to 'bully' the BBC over its coverage of the Gaza conflict. In a strongly worded letter, Kosminsky — known for the BBC historical drama 'Wolf Hall' — likened the government's actions to those of a 'tinpot dictatorship' and warned against sustained pressure on BBC Director General Tim Davie. 'Could I respectfully suggest that you stop trying to bully the BBC, the nation's primary public service broadcaster, over its coverage of the war in Gaza,' wrote Kosminsky in the letter, reported by The Guardian. He argued that politicians should not 'police the individual editorial decisions of the BBC,' stressing the broadcaster must, above all, maintain public trust. His letter echoed warnings from veteran BBC figure Richard Ayre, who described Nandy's direct intervention as 'outrageous.' Nandy has been a vocal critic of the BBC, pressuring the broadcaster to withdraw its Gaza documentary 'How To Survive a Warzone' after it emerged the young narrator was the son of a Hamas official. She also criticized the broadcasting of a Glastonbury Festival segment featuring the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan chanting anti-IDF slogans. 'For its part, the BBC must ensure that its output is balanced. But this means balanced across the totality of its output,' said Kosminsky, cautioning that past conflicts between government and BBC had ended tragically and citing the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly in 2003. Meanwhile, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has acknowledged recent 'serious failures' at the BBC but framed Nandy's criticism as justified accountability on behalf of license-fee payers. A spokesperson reiterated that editorial independence remained paramount. The controversy comes amid crucial discussions over the BBC's future funding and charter renewal, adding further pressure on its leadership — particularly Davie, who faces mounting scrutiny and internal dissatisfaction over perceived lapses in impartiality and editorial oversight.