Fito extradited to USA!
Quito, Jul 20 (EFE).-
José Adolfo Macías Villamar (also known as Fito), Ecuador’s most wanted drug trafficker and criminal leader, became the first person to be extradited from the Andean country to the United States on Sunday, following the repeal of the constitutional ban on extraditions in a 2024 referendum.
“Fito,” the leader of Los Choneros (the oldest and largest criminal gang operating in Ecuador), was extradited to the US on a plane provided by the US Department of Justice, three days after the National Court of Justice approved the US authorities’ extradition request.
Departing from Guayaquil airport under heavy security measures, the plane took off at around 2:15 pm local time, as confirmed by the Ecuadorian government.
During a court hearing on Jul. 18, the criminal leader had agreed to be sent to the US due to the risk of being targeted by criminal gangs inside La Roca, Ecuador’s maximum-security prison, where he was held since his recapture by Ecuadorian authorities on Jun. 25.
“Fito,” who had become a key target for President Daniel Noboa’s government in the “war” launched against organized crime in early 2024, was found in an underground bunker under a house on the outskirts of Manta, the birthplace and stronghold of Los Choneros.
This latest arrest comes after he was at large for a year and a half following his escape from Guayaquil Regional Prison in late 2023, where he was serving a 34-year sentence imposed in 2011 for crimes including drug trafficking, murder, and organized crime.
A few weeks earlier, the Ecuadorian police arrested his brother, Yandry Macías Villamar, and members of the inner circle of Fito’s romantic partner, Verónica Briones, on suspicion of laundering 24 million dollars from the drug trafficker’s illicit businesses.
In February 2025, “Fito” was indicted in the US on seven charges, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine internationally, use of firearms, and smuggling firearms from the US.
According to the indictment, Los Choneros, in alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel, ran a large-scale network responsible for shipping and distributing tons of cocaine from South America through Central America and Mexico to the US and beyond.
By February 2024, the US government had imposed sanctions on Los Choneros and “Fito,” freezing all assets and interests in assets located in the US or under the control of US citizens.
Since May 2023, “Fito” has been the sole leader of Los Choneros, an organized crime gang that emerged in the 1990s and dominated criminal activity in Ecuador until late 2020, when its leader, Jorge Luis Zambrano (Rasquiña or JL), was assassinated.
This led to a criminal war in Ecuador as other gangs emerged to challenge Los Choneros’ authority, such as Los Lobos, Los Lagartos, Los Tiguerones, and the Chone Killers.
This resulted in an unprecedented escalation of violence in Ecuador, prompting President Daniel Noboa to declare the country under a “state of emergency” and to designate criminal organizations as “terrorist” groups.
Among the measures taken by the president were successive states of emergency in areas of high criminal activity and the militarization of the main prisons, which had previously been controlled by these criminal organizations.
“Fito” was the boss in Guayaquil Regional Prison, and he escaped before Noboa began his hardline policy against organized crime, making his recapture a key goal of his presidency. EFE
uio-fgg/dgp
