Ecuadorian drug lord ‘Fito' pleads not guilty after being extradited to New York
José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is 'Fito,' appeared in federal court in Brooklyn a day after Ecuador extradited him to the U.S. A judge ordered him detained until trial and set his next court date for Sept. 19.
U.S. prosecutors accuse Macías of leading the vicious Los Choneros gang that used hitmen, bribes and military weapons, including machine guns and grenades. The hitmen, or sicarios, murdered, tortured and kidnapped people in Ecuador as the gang committed violence against law enforcement, politicians, attorneys, prosecutors and civilians, authorities said.
Los Choneros also worked with Mexican drug cartels to ship cocaine from Colombian suppliers through Ecuador and Central America to the U.S., and shipped firearms from the U.S. to South America, prosecutors said.
'Macías Villamar poses an extraordinary danger to the community,' U.S. prosecutors wrote in a request that Macías be detained without bail until trial. 'The Court should enter a permanent order of detention, as no condition or combination of conditions can assure the safety of the community or assure Macías Villamar's appearance at trial.'
Macías' lawyer, Alexei Schacht, who entered the not guilty pleas on Macías' behalf, did not immediately return phone and email messages Monday.
Macías escaped from a prison in Ecuador in January 2024 and wasn't caught until last month, when he was found in an underground bunker at a relative's mansion in the port city of Manta. He was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime and murder when he escaped. He also fled from a maximum-security prison in February 2013 but was recaptured a few weeks later.
Los Choneros emerged in the 1990s and Macías has been its leader since 2020, authorities said.
Macías cultivated a cult status among fellow gang members and the public in his home country. While behind bars in 2023, he released a video addressed to 'the Ecuadorian people' while flanked by armed men. He also threw parties in prison, where he had access to everything from liquor to roosters for cockfighting matches.
A federal grand jury in New York City indicted him on seven charges in April and returned an updated indictment in late June. The charges include international cocaine distribution conspiracy, use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and straw purchasing of firearms conspiracy. If convicted, he could face 20 years to life in prison.
'The defendant and his co-conspirators flooded the United States and other countries with drugs and used extreme measures of violence in their quest for power and control,' Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Venezuelans deported to El Salvador describe ‘horror movie' mega-prison
Venezuelan migrants who were deported from the U.S. to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador without due process are describing the treatment they received as like a 'horror movie' and 'hell.' More than 250 Venezuelan nationals were released to their home country from CECOT, whose name translates roughly to the Terrorism Confinement Centre, last Friday in a prisoner exchange deal after they were removed from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act. During their four-month stay, they say they were denied adequate medical care, beaten by guards, fed rotten food and shot with rubber pellets. One of the detainees, 32-year-old makeup artist Andry Hernandez Romero, called his stay at CECOT 'an encounter with torture and death.' 'Many of our fellows have wounds from the nightsticks; they have fractured ribs, fractured fingers and toes, marks from the handcuffs, others have marks on their chests, on their face … from the projectiles,' he told journalists at his home in Capacho, near the Colombian border. Story continues below advertisement 1:12 'I thought they would kill us': Venezuelan migrant details alleged abuse in El Salvador prison U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport the men, whom his government accuses of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, without normal immigration procedures. The deportations sparked a legal battle led by civil rights groups. Families and lawyers of many of the men have denied they have gang ties. Romero, detained at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration, had an active asylum case when he was deported to CECOT. His case was widely covered in the media. Romero, a gay man, fled Venezuela last summer and sought asylum in the U.S. He used a U.S. Customs and Border Protection phone app to arrange an appointment at a U.S. border crossing in San Diego. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy That's where he was asked about his tattoos. U.S. immigration authorities use a series of 'gang identifiers' to help them spot gang members. Story continues below advertisement 3:55 'Give us back our children': Venezuelan families demand release of detained migrants in El Salvador Romero, who is in his early 20s and insists he has no ties with the gang, has a crown tattooed on each wrist. One is next to the word 'Mom,' the other next to 'Dad.' The crowns, according to his lawyer, also pay homage to his hometown's Christmastime 'Three Kings' festival, and to his work in beauty pageants, where crowns are common. View image in full screen Andry Hernandez Romero, a Venezuelan migrant deported months ago to El Salvador by the United States under an immigration crackdown, shows tattoos on his wrists that read 'mom' and 'dad' after arriving home in Capacho Nuevo, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Ariana Cubillos / The Associated Press Romero was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and transferred to a California detention centre. He was eventually flown to CECOT amid Trump's immigration crackdown. Story continues below advertisement He isn't the only detainee speaking out about alleged abuse at CECOT. '(The guards) tortured us physically and psychologically,' José Mora, one of the released, told CNN. 'It was a nightmare. I heard many brothers asking for help, shouting, 'Mom, help!'' another detainee, Rafael Martínez, told the outlet. 'They beat us, they kicked us. I even have quite a few bruises on my stomach,' Carlos Uzcátegui, another detainee, told The Associated Press. View image in full screen Carlos Uzcátegui, one of the Venezuelan migrants deported months ago to El Salvador by the United States under an immigration crackdown, is embraced by his mother, Lisa Uzcátegui, upon arriving home in Lobatera, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Ariana Cubillos / The Associated Press Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, told the AP that CECOT guards hit him with fists and batons and, at one point, brutally beat him after taking him into an area of the prison that didn't have cameras. Immigration agents took Rengel into custody on March 13 in the parking lot of his apartment building in Irving, Texas, claiming his tattoos reflected an affiliation with Tren de Aragua. He had entered the U.S. in 2023, was working as a barber and was scheduled to appear before an immigration judge in 2028. Story continues below advertisement Now, Rengel is taking steps toward suing the U.S. government, filing a US$1.3-million claim against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, seeking compensation for emotional and psychological injuries. In the claim, he says that, along with abuse, he was denied contact with a lawyer or his family during his time at CECOT. 'Federal officials lied to Rengel, telling him he was being sent to his country of origin, Venezuela,' the claim states, according to ABC News. 'Instead, for more than four months, Rengel languished in El Salvador – which is not his country of origin and a place where he has no ties – where he suffered physical, verbal, and psychological abuse.' In an email to the AP, Homeland Security called Rengel's claims a 'sob story' and said he had entered the country illegally. 'President Trump and (DHS) Secretary (Kristi) Noem will not allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate in our country and endanger Americans,' the email said. 'We hear far too much about gang members and criminals' false sob stories and not enough about their victims.' Venezuela's attorney general told Reuters his office will investigate El Salvador President Nayib Bukele over the alleged abuses. Bukele's office has not responded to Reuters' requests for comment on the alleged torture. The Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations has been the subject of contention and multiple legal challenges. Story continues below advertisement In March, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ordered the deportation flights to return to the U.S. He's since said that the U.S. government may be in contempt of court for failing to do so. In June, he further ruled that the deported Venezuelan men must be given the opportunity to challenge their removals in U.S. courts. His decision indicated that there was 'significant evidence' that many of the men were languishing 'in a foreign prison on flimsy, even frivolous, accusations.' — With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mexican national married to a Marine Corps veteran seeks release from immigration custody
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A woman detained at a citizenship appointment in May will not be deported following a judge's ruling this week barring her removal, but her Marine Corps veteran husband said she remains in custody at immigration detention center in Louisiana. For two months, Paola Clouatre, 25, has been held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement complex in Monroe, waiting to learn whether she will be allowed to remain in the country. Once a week she is allowed to see her husband, who makes the eight-hour roundtrip trek from Baton Rouge so the mother can breastfeed their 4-month-old baby and see their 2-year-old son. Clouatre, a Mexican national, entered the U.S. seeking asylum with her mother more than a decade ago. After marrying her husband in 2024 and applying for her green card to legally live and work in the U.S., she learned that ICE had issued an order for her deportation in 2018 after her mother failed to appear at an immigration hearing. In May, during a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appointment in New Orleans, a staffer asked about the deportation order. Clouatre explained that she was trying to reopen her case, with her husband telling The Associated Press that he and his wife were trying 'to do the right thing.' Soon after, officers arrived and handcuffed Clouatre. Adrian Clouatre has spent nearly eight weeks fighting for his wife's release, remaining optimistic that their family would soon be reunited outside the detention facility located nearly 180 miles (290 kilometers) from their south Louisiana home. On Wednesday, they got word that a judge in California — the original jurisdiction for Paola Clouatre's case — had stayed the order for her removal. Adrian Clouatre welcomed the decision. He said their lawyer is preparing paperwork seeking his wife's release, though it's not guaranteed and could take weeks even in the best of scenarios. 'I just keep telling our son, ''Mom's coming home soon,'' Adrian Clouatre said. Meanwhile, the couple's lawyer is working to get the Baton Rouge mother's green card process back on track, The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune reported. While the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has already ruled that the couple has a valid marriage, the process has been held up amid the legal battle. The Baton Rouge mother is one of tens of thousands of people in custody as part of President Donald Trump's pledge to remove millions of people who are in the country without legal permission. Clouatre said GOP U.S. Sen. John Kennedy has also requested that the Department of Homeland Security release his wife from custody. Kennedy's office did not return AP's emailed request for comment. Kennedy is not the first Louisiana Republican to get involved in an immigration case in the reliably red state. Earlier this month, An Iranian mother, who was detained by ICE after living in the U.S. for nearly five decades, was released following advocacy from Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Federal agents in Miami arrest a prominent Haitian businessman and once presidential hopeful
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal agents in Miami have arrested Pierre Réginald Boulos, a well-known Haitian businessman, doctor and former presidential hopeful. The arrest occurred at Boulos' home in South Florida late last week, a person familiar with the arrest said Monday. Boulos was born in the United States but renounced his citizenship to run for president of Haiti in recent years. He obtained his U.S residency last year under the Biden administration. Boulos, who previously has denied a flurry of corruption allegations, is the most well-known Haitian arrested to date by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It wasn't immediately clear why Boulos was arrested. ICE did not return a message seeking details. An attorney for Boulos could not be immediately reached for comment. Boulos was being held at Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami, a detention center that Human Rights Watch said in a recent report is one of three in Florida that are grossly over capacity and 'flagrantly violate international human rights standards.' Boulos founded several businesses while in Haiti, where he served as president of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2019, he created the Third Way Movement, a political party in contrast to the 'shameless elite and the unscrupulous politicians who are working to bog down the country and increase the suffering of the people,' he said at the time, according to local media. The party promptly stated it would seek 'a historic political compromise that would facilitate the negotiated departure from power of Jovenel Moïse.' Boulos visited Haiti's central region in August 2019 as he rallied for support. 'I am part of the system that must be destroyed,' he was quoted as saying by Le Nouvelliste newspaper. 'I know how to destroy it.' Moïse served as president from 2017 until he was gunned down at his private residence in July 2021. Dozens of suspects were arrested, including seventeen former Colombian soldiers who are still being interrogated by Haitian authorities. Court documents have stated that those involved in the plot included Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a pastor, doctor and failed businessman who envisioned himself as Haiti's new leader. Elections have not been held since Moïse was killed. Gang violence surged in the political vacuum that ensued, and Boulos soon returned to the U.S. The arrest comes as the Trump administration seeks to end legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians after announcing it would revoke such protections for those who arrived in the U.S. under a humanitarian parole program. Rod Joseph, a Haitian-American running for U.S. Congress, said he has been working with the administration to avoid deporting people 'just for the fun of it.' 'If the president goes after criminals, no one is against that,' he said over the phone on Monday. 'But if you deport someone who doesn't commit any crime who's here seeking a better life, this is when we start having issues with the practice.'
