Latest news with #JoséAdolfoMacías
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Washington Post
A notorious drug lord hid in his bunker. Then the authorities closed in.
QUITO, Ecuador — Intelligence officials had been on the fugitive drug lord's trail for more than a year, in a high-priority operation they called 'Zeus II.' They looked for José Adolfo Macías Villamar in multiple countries — at one point, they believed he was hiding over the border, in a remote part of Colombia.
Telegraph
26-06-2025
- Telegraph
Ecuador's most wanted drug lord found in tunnel under girlfriend's home
Ecuador's most notorious drug kingpin has been found hiding in his girlfriend's basement after a 17-month manhunt. José Adolfo Macías Villamar, also known as Fito, was arrested by armed police and a squad of military intelligence officers on Wednesday evening. Macías, 45, has been the leader of Los Choneros, one of Ecuador's most violent crime groups, since 2020 and has been indicted by US authorities for allegedly organising cocaine-trafficking routes up through Central America, Mexico and beyond, among other offences. His escape from a maximum security prison in January last year triggered a state of emergency lasting 60 days. Thousands of soldiers were deployed as a wave of violence across the country's prison network left 20 people dead. Ecuadorian police, with the support of US intelligence, tracked Macías to the coastal city of Manta where he was found in a tunnel beneath a home that reportedly belonged to his girlfriend, Verónica Narcisa Briones Zambrano. Footage of the arrest shows armed police in balaclavas crawling into a tiled floor to reach the concealed basement underneath a kitchen counter. Macías is then seen pinned to the ground with his hands tied behind his back and a handgun aimed towards his head before he was driven away in the backseat of an armoured vehicle. John J. Durham, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, described Macias as a 'ruthless leader and prolific drug trafficker for a violent transnational criminal organisation'. 'By leading the Los Choneros' network of assassins and drug and weapon traffickers and importing potentially lethal quantities of cocaine into the United States, the defendant has caused great harm to his own country and the United States, which was the destination for the vast majority of Los Choneros' cocaine shipments,' he said. The crime group relied on a network of sicarios, or hitmen equipped with military-grade weapons, including Kalashnikovs and grenades, to carry out murders, torture and kidnaps, according to an indictment unsealed by US authorities. Their targets were not only gang rivals but Ecuadorian politicians, attorneys, prosecutors and civilians. Daniel Noboa, Ecuador's president, confirmed the country has already requested his extradition to the US – and vowed that more notorious gang members 'will fall'. In a post on social media, Mr Noboa said: '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 reclaim the country. No truce.' US prosecutors have charged Macías, in absentia, with seven counts of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms-related crimes, including weapons smuggling. Macias, at the time of his escape from Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, was considered a suspect in ordering the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, a presidential candidate who was shot in Quito in August 2023. While serving his 34-year prison sentence for murder and organised crime offences, Macías, in September 2023 mocked the government in a high-production music video, partially filmed inside the prison. The video, titled 'El Corrido del Leon' [The Lion's Ballad], shows Macias stroking a cockerel and gazing towards a painting of lion as two men in Tejana hats croon to accordion music about a 'man of good honour.'
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Ecuador Captures Gang Leader Whose Prison Escape Set Off Violence
Ecuadorean security officials on Wednesday captured the gang leader known as 'Fito' whose escape in 2024 set off violence across the country. President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador announced the capture of the gang leader, José Adolfo Macías, on social media. 'We have done our part to proceed with Fito's extradition to the United States. We are awaiting their response,' Mr. Noboa wrote in Spanish. Mr. Macías is wanted by the United States on accusations of trafficking drugs and smuggling weapons. Mr. Macías, 45, leads the powerful Los Choneros gang, one of Ecuador's most violent criminal organizations. The U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York indicted him earlier this year on seven counts, including cocaine distribution. He escaped prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, in January 2024, when officers who had arrived to transfer Mr. Macías to a maximum-security prison discovered he was missing from his cell. The government declared a 60-day state of emergency while they searched for him, triggering riots in several prisons, gang attacks, kidnappings and bombings across the country. The U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on Mr. Macías and on Los Choneros in February of that year. On Wednesday, authorities found him hiding in an underground bunker in Manta, a city about 120 miles from Guayaquil, Interior Minister John Reimberg told reporters. The military released video footage of the operation, which involved the Ecuadorean police and armed forces, showing Mr. Macías shirtless and handcuffed as officers push him down to a tile floor. In the video, officers loaded Mr. Macías into an armored vehicle and put him on an Air Force plane to Guayaquil. In another video, taken by The Associated Press, he is being led off the plane wearing a dark blue shirt, gray shorts and flip-flops. He was being taken to prison, Mr. Reimberg said. Mr. Macías's escape came two months after Mr. Noboa's election. During his campaign for president, Mr. Noboa vowed to crack down on the gangs that had disrupted Ecuador's security. 'More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce,' Mr. Noboa wrote on social media on Wednesday. The U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador's capital, congratulated officials for capturing Mr. Macías in a social media post. Mark A. Walsh contributed translation.
The Independent
26-06-2025
- The Independent
Notorious gang leader recaptured more than a year after prison escape
A fugitive drug trafficker has been recaptured more than a year after he escaped from prison, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced Wednesday. José Adolfo Macías, alias 'Fito,' who led a gang called Los Choneros in Ecuador is wanted by authorities in Ecuador and the United States. Macias, who has been indicted in New York City on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States, was captured in the Ecuadorian city of Manta, his hometown, officials in Ecuador said. An Interpol arrest warrant had issued for Macias after his mysterious prison escape in early 2024 from the Guayaquil Regional Prison, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking. Ecuadorian authorities have yet to explain how he escaped. They only learned of his escape when a military contingent arrived to transfer him to another maximum-security prison but failed to find him in his cell. Wednesday's announcement of his arrest comes in the same week that Federico Gómez, alias 'Fede,' the leader of another gang called Las Aguilas, was confirmed to have escaped from an Ecuadorian prison. Last year, U.S. Attorney John Durham said in a news release that Macias led Los Choneros and its 'network of assassins and drug and weapon traffickers' since at least 2020. With an extensive criminal record including charges of murder and organized crime, Macías has 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. The seven-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn charges Macías and an unidentified co-defendant with international cocaine distribution, conspiracy and weapons counts, including smuggling firearms from the United States. Los Choneros employed people to buy firearms, components and ammunition in the United States and smuggle them into Ecuador, according to the indictment. Cocaine would flow into the United States with the help of Mexican cartels. 'Los Choneros operated a vast network responsible for the shipment and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America through Central America and Mexico to the United States and elsewhere,' the indictment says. Last year, the U.S. classified Los Choneros as one of the most violent gangs and affirmed its connection to powerful Mexican drug cartels who threaten Ecuador and the surrounding region. Authorities in Ecuador have classified the gang as a terrorist organization. Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian government announced the reward for the capture of Macías would be increased to $1 million.
Washington Post
26-06-2025
- Washington Post
Notorious drug lord, wanted by U.S., captured underground in Ecuador
QUITO, Ecuador — Authorities in Ecuador have detained the country's most notorious drug trafficker, José Adolfo 'Fito' Macías Villamar, more than a year after he escaped from the maximum-security prison he once controlled. Specialized Ecuadorian police and military intelligence officers, with support from the United States, tracked him Wednesday evening to a basement where he had been hiding in the coastal Ecuadorian city of Manta, according to a senior police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation.
