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Notorious pack person has agreed to beryllium extradited to the United States to look cocaine and weapons smuggling charges.
Published On 12 Jul 2025
Ecuador’s astir infamous cause lord has agreed to beryllium extradited to the United States to look cocaine and weapons smuggling charges, a tribunal successful the superior Quito has said.
The announcement connected Friday is the latest section successful the melodramatic underworld communicative of Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, who was recaptured successful June aft escaping from a maximum information situation 18 months agone successful a jailbreak that triggered a bloody question of pack violence.
Macias, caput of the “Los Choneros” gang, is wanted successful the US connected charges of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms-related crimes, including weapons smuggling.
After Macias vanished from his situation compartment successful the southwestern larboard of Guayaquil successful January 2024, authorities had been scouring the satellite for him, offering a $1m reward for accusation starring to his capture. But it emerged that the country’s astir wanted antheral was hiding retired astatine a household member’s mansion successful his hometown.
Ecuadorian information forces recaptured the cause kingpin past period astatine an underground bunker beneath a marble-walled location successful the larboard metropolis of Manta, immoderate 260km (160 miles) southwest of the capital, Quito.
The erstwhile taxi-driver-turned-crime-boss had been serving a 34-year condemnation since 2011 for engagement successful organised crime, cause trafficking and murder.
In a state plagued by drug-related crime, Los Choneros members responded with unit arsenic the manhunt began aft their leader’s flight – utilizing car bombs, holding situation guards hostage and storming a tv presumption during a unrecorded broadcast.
President Daniel Noboa’s right-wing authorities had precocious declared, “We volition gladly nonstop him and fto him reply to the North American law.”
Macias, dressed successful an orangish situation uniform, took portion successful a tribunal proceeding Friday via videolink from a high-security situation successful Guayaquil.
In effect to a judge’s question, helium replied, “Yes, I judge (extradition).”
This would marque Macias the archetypal Ecuadorian extradited by his state since the measurement was written into instrumentality past year, aft a referendum successful which Noboa sought the support of measures to boost his warfare connected transgression gangs.
Ecuador, erstwhile a peaceful haven wedged betwixt the world’s 2 apical cocaine exporters, Colombia and Peru, has seen unit erupt successful caller years arsenic rival gangs with ties to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control.
These pack wars person mostly played retired wrong the country’s prisons, wherever Macias wielded immense control. He was the unofficial brag of his Guayaquil prison, wherever authorities recovered images glorifying him, weapons and US dollars.
Videos of parties helium held successful the situation captured fireworks and a mariachi band. In 1 sequence, helium appeared waving, laughing and petting a warring rooster.
Macias earned a instrumentality grade down bars. By the clip helium escaped, helium was considered a fishy successful the assassination of statesmanlike campaigner and anticorruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio successful 2023.
Soon aft Macias’s situation break, Noboa declared Ecuador to beryllium successful a authorities of “internal equipped conflict” and ordered the subject and tanks into the streets to “neutralize” the gangs.
Los Choneros has ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, Colombia’s Gulf Clan – the world’s largest cocaine exporter – and Balkan mafias, according to the Ecuadorian Organized Crime Observatory.
More than 70 percent of each cocaine produced successful the satellite present passes done Ecuador’s ports, according to authorities data. In 2024, the state seized a grounds 294 tonnes of drugs, chiefly cocaine.
English (US) ·