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Daily Mail
27-06-2025
- Daily Mail
How Ecuadorian narco mastermind Fito was found hiding in a secret chamber under his jailed girlfriend's house - as he faces extradition to the US
After a year on the run, Ecuador's most wanted fugitive, Fito, has been found hiding in a tunnel under his jailed girlfriend's home. The ruthless gang leader was arrested by armed police at Verónica Narcisa Briones Zambrano's property on Wednesday evening. His recapture came after his own daughter accidentally revealed his location, giving cops a chance to swoop in. Fito is now facing extradition to the US at the request of Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa, who has vowed more notorious gang members 'will fall'. Meanwhile, Zambrano is currently being held in a Guayaquil prison, according to an intelligence official. Before his escape in January 2024, the narco mastermind had been in prison, serving a 34-year sentence for organised crime, drug trafficking, and murder. Real named Jose Adolfo Macias Vilamir, Fito has also been charged in absentia by American prosecutors with seven counts of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms-related crimes, including weapons smuggling. His breakout from an Ecuadorian prison resulted in a drastic surge of gang-related violence that lasted several days and left 20 people dead. The country's president, Noboa, declared a 60-day state of emergency in multiple provinces following the violence. Despite a months-long manhunt, he evaded capture until the president revealed that he had finally been apprehended. It's not the first time Fito had escaped from prison - he did so in 2013 but was captured after three months. He was discovered hiding in a kitchen bunker in Manta, his hometown. According to local media, officers stormed a luxury home and lifted a trap door to reveal his hiding spot. A month ago, several members of his family were arrested. Authorities also raided their businesses and confiscated many assets. The country's interior minister, John Reimberg, described the move as a 'psychological operation'. Police ramped up their investigation when they noticed a municipal transit official had stopped showing up to work months ago. Trailing him led them to Fito's inner circle, according to a national police commander. Cops discovered the trapdoor after an extensive search of the home It was established that the official often went to a plush three-storey building, the same one Fito was hiding in. The home came equipped with marble floors and walls, a huge swimming pool, a well-equipped gym, and a game room. There were brand new sofas still wrapped in plastic and TVs that were still in their boxes. Heavily armed men infiltrated the home when Fito's daughter accidentally revealed his location. Surrounding streets in the neighbourhood were blocked off as cops conducted the 10-hour-long operation. In the detailed sting operation, drones were deployed to gain a better understanding of the compound. After an extensive search, Fito was discovered hunkered down in an air-conditioned bunker in the kitchen. Police brought in heavy machinery for excavation, forcing Fito to come out when he realised he could be crushed to death. Describing the moment, Reimberg said: 'When this happened, Fito panicked. He opened the hatch where military and police personnel were located and left the hole.' Within minutes, he was on the ground with guns pointed at his head, as police forced him to repeat his name out loud. Ecuador has seen a huge increase in gang related crimes in recent years. As the leader of the Los Choneros gang, Fito was responsible for some of the gang's most gruesome antics. These includes car bombings, kidnappings, and many brutal murders. After he escaped from prison, Fito also became a suspect in the assasination of Fernando Villavicencio, a presidential hopeful who ran as an anti-corruption crusader. Fito, who became the leader of the gang after its former boss dies, is seen as a matyr by many in Ecuador's prison system There are murals in many prisons across the country dedicated to him His jailbreak led to prison riots where four officers were taken hostage. Additionally, masked armed men stormed a television station during a live broadcast. According to US prosecutors, Fito's gang has close ties with Mexico's Sinola cartel and the two worked to control drug trafficking routes between South America and the US. Officials in the States congratulated Ecuador on X for Fito's capture. A $1million cash prize was set aside for information that could lead to his arrest. President Noboa now says he is waiting for the US to make contact with him about Fito's extradition. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Fito took control of Los Choneros after the gang's former boss Jose Luis Zambrano died in December 2020. He is seen as a matyr by many in the prison system with murals of him painted on many jail walls. While locked up, the country's president criticised the privileges he enjoyed, including a socket to charge his phone. According to the the president, Fito also had an internet router outside his cell.
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.'
