MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Most wanted” Ecuadorean gangster alias Fito captured

Fito will be extradited to the United States, Noboa said

Ecuadorean authorities confirmed Wednesday that José Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias “Fito,” leader of the “Los Choneros” drug trafficking gang, who escaped from a Guayaquil prison in January 2024, has been recaptured.

While he was serving a 34-year sentence for organized crime, drug trafficking, and murder, his family was located after the flight in the Argentine province of Córdoba and deported back to their country. Fito's escape from prison sparked an unprecedented wave of violence in Ecuadorean jailhouses.

Fito was apprehended after a 10-hour operation involving police, military, and intelligence agents. President Daniel Noboa credited new Solidarity and Intelligence laws for enabling the arrest and confirmed Ecuador’s intent to extradite Fito to the United States, where he faces seven federal charges, including drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. The US Embassy in Quito praised Ecuador’s efforts to combat transnational crime.

“Fito was captured today and is in the hands of the Security Block. My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will recover the country. No truce,” Noboa wrote on X. “We have done our part to proceed with the extradition of 'Fito' to the United States; we are waiting for his response,” he added.

Fito was on the Ecuadorian police's “Most Wanted” list, which includes leaders of organized crime groups classified by the government as “terrorists”. His escape became known on Jan. 7, 2024, after a search and count procedure at the Guayaquil Regional Prison, which led the Police and the Armed Forces to take over the correctional facility, where security was deemed too loose. The 44-year-old criminal vanished before being transferred to another maximum security prison.

“Nothing and no one is above the Law!” Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg posted on X after Fito's arrest in the municipality of Manta, in the province of Manabí.

Back in April, the New York District Attorney's Office filed up to seven federal charges against what it described as a “ruthless and prolific drug trafficking leader”, accusing him of conspiring to distribute cocaine, as well as buying, smuggling weapons, and using them for drug trafficking. According to the US agency, the leader of Los Choneros used members of the organization to “carry out serious acts of violence.”

When Fito's family was located in Argentina later in January of 20224, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich explained that “it's very typical of gang leaders to seek a safe place for their families so they don't get involved in criminal behavior.” However, no sign of Fito himself was found in Córdoba at the time.

Los Choneros control drug trafficking in the Ecuadorian coastal province of Manabí, where the city of Chone is located. The gang is said to have strong ties to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.