Ecuador's most wanted drug lord 'Fito' captured in 'underground bunker'
Police in Ecuador have recaptured the country's most wanted fugitive, drug lord Adolfo Macías Villamar.Macías, also known by the alias "Fito", is the leader of Los Choneros, a powerful criminal gang which is blamed for Ecuador's transformation from a tourist haven to a country with one of the highest murder rates in the region. He is also suspected of having ordered the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023. Police tracked him down to what they described as an underground bunker below a luxury home in the city of Manta.
A police spokesman said no shots were fired in the 10-hour joint operation by police and the military. A large number of officers first monitored and surrounded the three-storey home in the Monterrey neighbourhood of Manta, on the Ecuadorian coast. When they stormed the building, they found a sliding trap door, disguised to look like part of the stone floor, from which metal stairs led to Fito's underground hideout. The "bunker" was fitted out with air conditioning, a bed, a fan and a fridge.The house itself boasted a gym with a punching bag and a games room where he could play pool and table football. Fito reportedly put up no resistance and was transferred by air to the port city of Guayaquil, where several of Ecuador's largest prisons are located.Footage of his arrival in Guayaquil shows him wearing shorts, a T-shirt and flip flops while being led by armed security officers to a parked SUV before being transfered to the La Roca maximum-security prison.
Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa praised the security forces for capturing Fito and said that he would be extradited to the US, where he has been charged with cocaine smuggling.Fito escaped from La Regional prison in Guayaquil in January 2024 with the help of at least two guards, prompting global media attention.It triggered a wave of deadly prison riots, in which guards were taken hostage and which prompted Noboa to declare a state of emergency.But Fito was already notorious prior to his escape. During his time in prison - while serving a 34-year sentence for murder and drug trafficking - he rose to the top of the Los Choneros gang after its previous leader was killed. From behind bars, he co-ordinated the gang's activities, which include drug trafficking and extortion.He is also suspected of having ordered the murder of politician Fernando Villavicencio, who was gunned down at a campaign rally just days before the 2023 election. Under Fito's leadership, Los Choneros forged links with Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel, an alliance which experts say has led to the gruesome tactics commonly used by Mexican cartels - such as decapitations and mutilations - spreading to Ecuador. Shortly before his prison escape, he also appeared in a narcocorrido - a slick music video in which his daughter glorifies her father's criminal exploits.The video, which was partly recorded inside the prison, shows him caressing a fighting cockerel and freely chatting to fellow inmates.
The gang leader's escape in 2024 was a blow to Noboa's government. The Ecuadorian leader had assumed office in November 2023 after being elected on a promise to combat the growing power of the gangs.On Wednesday, Noboa said that the drug lord's capture was proof his approach - which includes bringing in laws giving him sweeping powers to declare an "armed internal conflict", and which allows police to conduct searches without a warrant - was working."More [drug lords] will fall, we will regain [control of] the country," he posted on X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Inside lives of UK's gangster molls…from sick role in ex's sadistic murder to Kinahan heir dating footballer's daughter
DESIGNER wardrobes, glamorous five star holidays and luxury cars may be seen as the less-than-legit perks of life as a gangster's moll. But the women who share their lives with some of Britain's most infamous criminals have a price to pay for their wealthy lifestyles. 21 21 21 Prison sentences, threats, retaliation, damaged reputations and living life looking over your shoulder come with the territory of being a 'mob wife'. And if their partners' criminality catches up with them and they are arrested and tried for their crimes, courts often hear how behind these powerful and dangerous men are devoted and loyal wives and girlfriends. While some of these women have undoubtedly been attracted by the financial success of the gangsters, others know no other life, having grown up in homes where criminality is respected and ordinary law-abiding folk are seen as slaves to the system. TV dramas such as Liverpool-based This City is Ours, and Irish gangland shows such as MobLand and Kin have shone a light on what goes on within these criminal families - and how the women are often at the heart of 'the firm'. Private investigator Alison Harris, who runs Miss AM Investigating, says there are several reasons why women want to get involved with high level criminals, from having low self-esteem and craving safety to wanting money and prestige. Alison, who is qualified in profiling and criminology, says: 'If a woman has been brought up with criminal activities, they do not think it's abnormal and think that it's actually normal. 'If a woman has low-self esteem, then to be chosen as a girlfriend or wife of someone who they view as powerful, makes them feel important and special.' But then there are others who are happy to be seen as a trophy mob wife - and enjoy the very fancy trappings of the proceeds of crime. 'A criminal lifestyle offers a chance for women to live a lifestyle beyond their expectations,' explains Alison, who has just written a book called Private Lies. 'Designer clothes and bags. An affluent address, which could mean a different class of friends and lifestyle. 'They may also get a feeling of safety and being untouchable. The higher up the criminal ladder a man is, then the more they and their families are feared.' While some gang wives flaunt their affluent lifestyles on social media, others keep a low profile - and some have paid a devastating price for their involvement in the criminal underworld, as we reveal. Kayleanne Sweeney 21 21 Walking into Manchester Crown Court to support her partner Thomas Cashman, Kayleanne Sweeney looked more like a Love Islander or model than a woman whose boyfriend stood accused of the most heinous crime. Cashman was on trial for the murder that shocked the nation - accused of gunning down nine-year-old Olivia Pratt Korbel as she cowered behind her mother in their Liverpool home. But that didn't stop Kayleanne turning her arrival at court into a catwalk, with designer outfits, bouncy blow-dries and perfect make-up. Despite hearing of his infidelity, blonde beauty salon owner Kayleanne was determined to stand by her man. The court - and Kayleanne - heard it was a woman who he had a fling with that reported him to the police with suspicions he was responsible for Olivia's murder. Kayleanne and Cashman lived in the West Derby area of Liverpool, boosted by his £250,000 per year earnings. The couple, who have a son, 14, and four-year-old daughter, are understood to have paid £2,000 a month for a four-bed rented £450,000 property in a high-end development. But it was ill-gotten gains. Cash - as he was known in Liverpool - earned his money growing and selling cannabis and also acted as an enforcer for the godfathers who ran the Huyton Firm. Meanwhile Kayleanne drove to work in a £33,000 Land Rover Discovery Sport and enjoyed regular overseas holidays with her gangster partner. The couple were also renting a luxury two-bed apartment in a block overlooking the River Mersey. Asked in court whether Ms Sweeney knew the source of his wealth – more than seven times the average salary for the area – Cashman said: "She never asked me, I never told her." But he admitted she would have had "suspicions" that he dealt drugs. Cashman was found guilty of Olivia's murder, the wounding of Olivia's mother Cheryl, the attempted murder of his intended target and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and will not be eligible for parole until he is in his 70s. Since Cashman's arrest, Kayleanne and their children are believed to have returned to live on the council estate where she grew up. Coleen Campbell 21 21 21 The glam Mancunian mum-of-two has paid the ultimate price for her life as a gangsters' moll. She is serving a 13-year prison term for her involvement in the torture and killing of her drug baron ex-husband, as well as an 18-month sentence for battering a woman with a hammer. Coleen's drab cell is a far cry from her previous life as a mob wife with all the trappings of a lucrative life of crime, including BMW and Mercedes cars. Greater Manchester Police began investigating drug dealer Thomas Campbell and wife Coleen in 2014 and uncovered their role in the area's cocaine trade. Despite their only legitimate income being benefits and Coleen's part-time job at Matalan, the family enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, spending more than £100,000 on luxury cars and holidays. Their house in Tameside had a new double-storey extension funded by dirty money. The pair both pleaded guilty to money laundering at Manchester Crown Court in 2019, with Thomas jailed for two years and Coleen handed a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. But three years later detectives had an even bigger case to crack - Thomas Campbell's disappearance and murder. Given his status as a drugs kingpin he had many enemies, and no one expected now ex-wife Coleen to be involved. But she gave away her role in his killing in a bizarre way - by visiting a psychic four days after his death. She told his mother that his spirit had been summoned and shared intimate details about his murder and the injuries he had sustained. Her ex-mother-in-law became suspicious and alerted police. Coleen fell under suspicion as only the killers could have known the details about Thomas' fatal wounds. Cops discovered she had been tipping off the killers about her ex-husband's movements in the run up to the attack, with a phone conversation she had with one of them caught on her home CCTV. He died after a sadistic assault that left him with 61 separate injuries at his £350,000 townhouse in Mossley, that also saw him robbed of drugs, cash and valuables. 21 21 He was stabbed, punched and stamped on before boiling water was poured on his buttocks. Neighbours found his body in the hallway naked except for his socks. Coleen was found guilty of manslaughter in 2023 after a five-week trial. Reece Steven, 29, was convicted of murder and was jailed for life with a minimum of 37 years, while Stephen Cleworth, 38, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 12 years. Both were also found guilty of conspiracy to rob. Earlier this year Coleen Campbell and three other defendants pleaded guilty to violent disorder following the Manchester street brawl where a woman was attacked with a hammer - just three days before Thomas Campbell's murder. Coleen Campbell also pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Nicola Cassells 21 21 Brunette Nicola is believed to be one of the most connected molls in the Scottish underworld. She is the ex-girlfriend of John Bonner, a gangster who drove notorious Daniels enforcer Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll to an Asda car park where he was murdered in 2010 in what is one of the most infamous gangland hits in Scotland. And the mother-of-three has also allegedly slept with kingpin Steven 'Bonzo' Daniel, who was left with horrific scars after being chased down and slashed with a meat cleaver. Furthermore, she reportedly had a fling with David Togher of the Richardson gang. Private investigator Alison Harris says there is a term to describe someone who is sexually attracted to men who commit crimes - hybristophilia. She explains: 'It's not the crimes that they commit, it's the traits and characteristics of a criminal that they find exciting.' Some experts believe hybristophilia can be caused by childhood trauma, or can affect people who believe they can nurture or change the criminal. Nicola Morrissey Vodka boss Nicola Morrissey, 49, is the moll of 'Johnny Cash' Morrissey. 'Johnny Cash' earned his nickname from his habit of carrying around large wads of money, and is a mobster linked to the Kinahan cartel, a leading Irish organised crime group. Johnny and his wife share a property empire while enjoying the fruits of their Nero premium vodka business in the Costa Del Sol. Conservative MP and former crime journalist Russell Findlay, who was targeted in an acid attack by the gangs, told the Scottish Parliament in 2022: "One Kinahan gang member who has been sanctioned [by US authorities in 2022] is John Morrissey, along with his Glasgow-based vodka company, Nero Drinks. "The Kinahans are not interested in flogging vodka — their real business is cocaine and heroin.' Father-of-two Johnny was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of money laundering. Nicola was also arrested and bailed as part of the same probe. When police raided their home they found expensive artwork and wads of cash. Nicola had previously been interviewed by Marbella magazine Exclusive Life with a photoshoot detailing the extent of their wealth. In one shot she posed beside a £350,000 Rolls-Royce in a long scarlet dress, while in another photo she seemed to be wearing a diamond necklace. Jane Park 21 Jane Park, 30, shot to fame back in 2013 when she became the UK's youngest Euromillions winner, scooping £1million aged just 17 on a lucky dip ticket. Since then she has led a rollercoaster life as part of a gangster love-swap and undergoing a series of plastic surgery ops. Park once dated Richardson mobster David Togher, who previously is thought to have slept with Nicola Cassells. However, Togher is believed to have cheated on Park with his friend Marc Webley 's girlfriend, Jodie Steele. Webley was also part of the Richardson crew and was jailed for 11 years in 2005 aged 19 for attempted murder, after what was described as a failed gangland hit. After Togher was spotted with Steele, former chip shop worker Park started dating Webley, completing the partner swap between the two gangsters. Shortly after her lottery win, she splashed out £4,500 on a boob job. But in 2017, a Brazilian butt lift left her desperately ill after she contracted sepsis. She then started selling racy topless pictures of herself on subscription site OnlyFans. And in 2023 she told her 200,000 Instagram followers she had flown to Turkey for a second boob job and a round of liposuction. It was in the same year that her relationship with Richardson gangster Marc Webley came to an end when he was shot dead outside an Edinburgh pub on New Year's Eve. Caoimhe Robinson 21 21 Caoimhe Robinson married suspected Kinahan mobster Daniel 'Chess' Kinahan, 47, in a glitzy ceremony at the £1,000-a-night Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai in 2017. Caoimhe, from Coolock in the north of Dublin, is also the ex-girlfriend of gangster Micka 'The Panda' Kelly, who was linked to six murders and shot dead by the Real IRA in 2011. The Panda was gunned down as he left an apartment in north Dublin. His dead body was shot again before a car was driven over him. Blonde Caoimhe, Kinahan and their children relocated to Dubai from Spain amid an outbreak of gang violence on the Costas and the police's increased determination to tackle the international drugs and arms trafficking mob. It was a savvy business move as she has sold and let millions of pounds worth of property in Dubai despite international sanctions freezing her husband's assets. This allegedly includes a mansion that was rented out for £20,000-a-year before being sold for £4.3million, and a luxury villa with a swimming pool and a terrace overlooking a golf course that was sold last May for nearly £10million. Months before she started selling her properties, the US unveiled sanctions against seven senior figures in the Kinahan cartel and a $5million (£4million) bounty for the arrest of Daniel, his father 'The Dapper Don', and brother Christopher Jr. Caoimhe is not the target of any sanctions or arrest warrants and - unlike other members of the Kinahan family - is not a fugitive. Simoan McEnroe 21 21 Simoan, 43, is married to Kinahan Cartel mob boss Liam Byrne, 44, and is understood to be one of the most trusted members outside of the immediate family. The couple have been married for 27 years and have three children aged nine, 14 and 24. There is no suggestion she or her children are involved in crime themselves. Their eldest, Lee Byrne, is engaged to and having a baby with ex-England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard 's daughter Lilly, 21. Along with his brother-in-law Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, Liam Byrne helped run the Kinahans' UK operation and was jailed for five years in 2024 for his part in a submachine gun haul plot. During the trial he claimed to be a car salesman and a "spray painter by trade". Despite this, he and Simoan share a home in a gated community in an exclusive part of Merseyside. In January this year Byrne was released from prison with an electronic tag as part of the Prime Minister's controversial Early Release Scheme to ease overcrowding in prisons. 21
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Arrest after Christian Dean found dead in Porth house
Police investigating the sudden death of a 36-year-old have arrested a man. Christian Dean died in a house on Graig Road in Ynyshir, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales Police said. Officers were called to the property at just before 13:00 BST on Thursday.A 34-year-old man from Ynyshir was arrested in connection with the death, but the force has not said what he has been arrested on suspicion of.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside the most DANGEROUS town in Wales fighting a 'disgusting' drugs crisis where locals say 'no one really cares about us'
'Abandoned' residents living in the 'most dangerous town in Wales' have claimed they are inundated with beggars, drug dealers who inject themselves on the street and 'child drug dealers.' Despite having a population of just 159,600 residents, Newport has the highest crime rate in the country, with a staggering 121 offences committed for every 1,000 people according to figures from the Home Office. This is equivalent to one in eight people having filed a crime report and dwarfs the Welsh national average of 84 reported crimes per 1,000 people. Analysis by the MailOnline has revealed that certain types of crime including possession of weapons, sexual offences and violence have all markedly increased since covid. The South Wales town also suffers from homelessness and drug related crime issues with the highest rates in the country for each. When MailOnline visited the deprived Pillgwenlly ward this week the state of decay in the town was plain to see. Many of the once thriving shops and cafes in the once proud community now stand boarded up and in one case, burnt out. Evidence of flytipping, ranging from compostable rubbish to hard household waste was common throughout the area. Despite the area's obvious struggles, the residents who spoke to MailOnline were warm and sociable, with most reserving their ire for their local council and devolved Welsh government. Pensioner Jim Holland, 77, has lived in the area for years and told us he was furious at the decline of the town. He said: 'Why is it a sh******? Well the council aren't looking after it, are they?! They're spending money on loads of other things, like millions of pounds putting extra people in the senate down in Cardiff, and are spending it in the city. 'They've just neglected it, it looks like it's been bombed; you'd think we were in Gaza really.' Another resident, who appeared to be working in a street cleaning capacity for the council, expressed his fear for the town's future under the condition of anonymity. He said: 'It's just a ghost town now, it's a shame because it used to be thriving, it used to be alive. But it's just gone. 'Pill's (Pillgwenlly) the worst like. You get gangs of youths hanging around and all. I mean every junkie hanging around here, it's a shoplifter's paradise to them. 'Drugs is terrible down here, absolutely fucking rife. Lack of policing is why, and I mean if Newport County are playing against Wrexham, you've got that many police here, it's a shame. 'They can't catch 'em, there's so many kids selling drugs, there's no prospects for them anymore! Because there's nothing for them to do! 'I work for the council and when we cut grass, we've got to look for needles before we start. Do you know what I mean? If you want drugs, you can have anything you want, you've just got to ask the right person. It's a shame, an absolute shame, because I like this place – it always had a bit of a bad name for it. 'But it was always good people and it had a good community spirit and now it's like a third world country down here. Do you know what I mean?' For generations, residents of Newport have complained that Cardiff, 12 miles along M4, gets all the investment, sports stadiums, concert arenas and high street brands. The touted redevelopment of Friar's Walk now looks like a ghetto with only about half of the original 34 shops still open and the once busy Commercial Street no longer lives up to its name with shop windows covered by ugly sheets of steel. Conceding defeat, many locals now head to to Newport's satellite town of Cwmbran, five miles away, to make use of its neat and compact shopping centre and free parking. And residents claim that the decline of local business on the high street has led it to become inundated with beggars, homeless people and drug users who shoot up on the streets. The south Wales town has the highest rates of homelessness in the country with 193 households of every 10,000 now classed as homeless. The council claim has been spurred on 'unprecedented' housing pressures due to Newport's status as the fastest growing city in Wales with the population jumping from 145,700 to 159,587 between the 2011 and 2021 census. Local Jordan Cunliffe said that the lack of positive change and investment in the town has left residents feeling abandoned. He said: 'What you see is what you get down here. I've noticed an increase of everything really - the crime and the deprivation, I think everyone's just used to it. 'I think this is an area now where everyone's just dumped here and then no one really cares about us.' Like many areas of the UK, Newport is also suffering from a drugs crisis. Whilst our reporter was in the area, we observed one man appearing to inject himself in the street while shocked pedestrians looked on. Shop owner Lyn Wen, 52, declared the problem was obvious everywhere you looked in the town. She said: 'There's lots of drugs - far too much drugs. That's the main problem and also the lack of money. 'Everyone's at it, younger people are doing it and older people are doing it. I've lived here for about 20 odd years and it's gotten worse - it's getting really bad.' These sentiments were echoed by mother-of-two Samantha Rogers, 27, who said the constant anti-social behavior from yobs, drunks, beggars and drug users has made her worry for her young children. She said: 'I have seen drug dealers around here. The other day I saw an abandoned car and a load of empty Mr Whippy cannisters which they do balloons and loads of glass on the floor. 'I've got two young children and it doesn't feel safe, I worry about it. When my other daughter gets older, I don't even feel safe enough to put her on a range to walk around here. 'Yesterday, I went to see my nan and as I came out my front door I could tell somebody had just jacked up because there was an empty needle packet on the floor. 'If you keep yourself to yourself, I find it okay but I wouldn't want to stay here permanently.' A spokesman for the charity Eden Gate, which works with underprivileged and socially isolated adults in the town told MailOnline it was working to bring 'sustainable change.' Fran Richley, Operations Manager commented: 'We're acutely aware that Newport is a city facing significant social challenges. 'It's easy to focus on the issues in any local area—but the real question is: what are we, as individuals, prepared to do about it? I think it's quite simple—we can sit on the sidelines and complain, or we can choose to be the difference.' Temporary Chief Superintendent Jason White, Head of Neighbourhood Policing at Gwent Police, said: 'Anti-social behaviour (ASB) and associated disorder is completely unacceptable. It has a negative impact on the quality of life of our communities and it won't be tolerated in Newport and in Gwent, as a whole. 'Between April 2024 and the end of March 2025, we carried out an additional 7,000 hours of patrols in hotspot areas across Gwent, which led to an overall reduction in ASB. 'Our commitment to address ASB is ongoing and we've just secured an additional £1million Home Office funding for this work to continue over the next year, complementing our existing patrols in hotspot areas, including parts of Newport, with an additional 9,000 hours' worth. 'From next month, we will be increasing our neighbourhood activity, which includes a focus on ASB, as part of the Safer Street Summer Initiative (SSI). 'Our policing teams are continuing to carry out partnership work with Newport City Council and other organisations and agencies to ensure that all businesses and residents feel safe. 'When it comes to anti-social behaviour, we're guided not only by information gathered though investigations and patrols, but by information the public has provided through their reports. That's why it's really important people affected by these issues come forward and talk to us.'
