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Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
How authorities found a drug kingpin's luxurious hideout in Ecuador
Ecuadorian forces have revealed how they captured the country's most-wanted man, drug lord Adolfo 'Fito' Macías, more than a year after his brazen prison escape prompted the president to declare an internal armed conflict to crack down on the country's most violent gangs. After an almost 18-month manhunt for the leader of the criminal group Los Choneros, the Ecuadorian Security Bloc made a breakthrough on June 25. They obtained intelligence that alerted them to a luxurious home in the province of Manabí, the gang's longtime stronghold for drug operations. Authorities immediately traveled to the area and launched a 10-hour operation to try to find and capture the notorious gangster. To prevent the raid from being thwarted, the military and police shut down access within a 15-block radius so no one could enter or leave the site. Special teams from the armed forces eventually entered the property to gather more information and take control of the house. It was a fully equipped villa, featuring a pool, a gym, appliances, a game room, marble-like walls, and features that indicated the property was still under construction. In one area of the house, there was a perfectly camouflaged hole in the floor, containing a bunker with hidden access and air conditioning. 'Police and armed forces on the scene began conducting a search with instruments to see where alias 'Fito' was hiding,' Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg said. A surveillance flight had identified an irregular crop field behind the house, so authorities requested the use of excavators to locate the drug lord. 'They started to excavate. As soon as this happened, Fito panicked because if we continued, the roof of his bunker would collapse. At that moment, he opened the hatch, where the military was already located, and climbed out of the hole where he was hiding. That's how we detained him,' Reimberg said. Soldiers pinned Macías to the ground, pointed weapons at him and ordered him to say his full name out loud. 'Adolfo Macías Villamar,' he said while lying on the floor with his hands behind his back, footage from the army showed. After the operation, authorities arrested Macías, along with four other men identified as part of his security detail. Macías was immediately transferred to the Manta Air Base and then to the Guayaquil Air Base. From there, he was taken to the maximum-security La Roca prison, located in the Guayaquil prison complex, behind La Regional prison, from where he escaped in January 2024. A photo later released by the interior ministry showed the drug lord locked inside his cell. President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador is working to extradite him to the United States – where he faces drugs and weapons charges – and is awaiting a response from American officials. Macías is one of Ecuador's most notorious gangsters and is the only founding member of Los Choneros believed to still be alive. In 2011 he was sentenced 'for a string of crimes, including homicides and narcotics trafficking,' according to think tank Insight Crime, but sprung out of jail in February 2013 before being recaptured months later. Little is known about his life prior to crime, but he gained a reputation for being the gang's money laundering expert while incarcerated for over a decade. Before he fled prison in 2024, the government was planning on moving Macías to a higher-security facility. Noboa's press secretary told a local channel that the news had likely reached Macías and prompted him to make his escape.
CNN
18 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
How authorities found a drug kingpin's luxurious hideout in Ecuador
Ecuadorian forces have revealed how they captured the country's most-wanted man, drug lord Adolfo 'Fito' Macías, more than a year after his brazen prison escape prompted the president to declare an internal armed conflict to crack down on the country's most violent gangs. After an almost 18-month manhunt for the leader of the criminal group Los Choneros, the Ecuadorian Security Bloc made a breakthrough on June 25. They obtained intelligence that alerted them to a luxurious home in the province of Manabí, the gang's longtime stronghold for drug operations. Authorities immediately traveled to the area and launched a 10-hour operation to try to find and capture the notorious gangster. To prevent the raid from being thwarted, the military and police shut down access within a 15-block radius so no one could enter or leave the site. Special teams from the armed forces eventually entered the property to gather more information and take control of the house. It was a fully equipped villa, featuring a pool, a gym, appliances, a game room, marble-like walls, and features that indicated the property was still under construction. In one area of the house, there was a perfectly camouflaged hole in the floor, containing a bunker with hidden access and air conditioning. 'Police and armed forces on the scene began conducting a search with instruments to see where alias 'Fito' was hiding,' Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg said. A surveillance flight had identified an irregular crop field behind the house, so authorities requested the use of excavators to locate the drug lord. 'They started to excavate. As soon as this happened, Fito panicked because if we continued, the roof of his bunker would collapse. At that moment, he opened the hatch, where the military was already located, and climbed out of the hole where he was hiding. That's how we detained him,' Reimberg said. Soldiers pinned Macías to the ground, pointed weapons at him and ordered him to say his full name out loud. 'Adolfo Macías Villamar,' he said while lying on the floor with his hands behind his back, footage from the army showed. After the operation, authorities arrested Macías, along with four other men identified as part of his security detail. Macías was immediately transferred to the Manta Air Base and then to the Guayaquil Air Base. From there, he was taken to the maximum-security La Roca prison, located in the Guayaquil prison complex, behind La Regional prison, from where he escaped in January 2024. A photo later released by the interior ministry showed the drug lord locked inside his cell. President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador is working to extradite him to the United States – where he faces drugs and weapons charges – and is awaiting a response from American officials. Macías is one of Ecuador's most notorious gangsters and is the only founding member of Los Choneros believed to still be alive. In 2011 he was sentenced 'for a string of crimes, including homicides and narcotics trafficking,' according to think tank Insight Crime, but sprung out of jail in February 2013 before being recaptured months later. Little is known about his life prior to crime, but he gained a reputation for being the gang's money laundering expert while incarcerated for over a decade. Before he fled prison in 2024, the government was planning on moving Macías to a higher-security facility. Noboa's press secretary told a local channel that the news had likely reached Macías and prompted him to make his escape.
CNN
19 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
How authorities found a drug kingpin's luxurious hideout in Ecuador
Ecuadorian forces have revealed how they captured the country's most-wanted man, drug lord Adolfo 'Fito' Macías, more than a year after his brazen prison escape prompted the president to declare an internal armed conflict to crack down on the country's most violent gangs. After an almost 18-month manhunt for the leader of the criminal group Los Choneros, the Ecuadorian Security Bloc made a breakthrough on June 25. They obtained intelligence that alerted them to a luxurious home in the province of Manabí, the gang's longtime stronghold for drug operations. Authorities immediately traveled to the area and launched a 10-hour operation to try to find and capture the notorious gangster. To prevent the raid from being thwarted, the military and police shut down access within a 15-block radius so no one could enter or leave the site. Special teams from the armed forces eventually entered the property to gather more information and take control of the house. It was a fully equipped villa, featuring a pool, a gym, appliances, a game room, marble-like walls, and features that indicated the property was still under construction. In one area of the house, there was a perfectly camouflaged hole in the floor, containing a bunker with hidden access and air conditioning. 'Police and armed forces on the scene began conducting a search with instruments to see where alias 'Fito' was hiding,' Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg said. A surveillance flight had identified an irregular crop field behind the house, so authorities requested the use of excavators to locate the drug lord. 'They started to excavate. As soon as this happened, Fito panicked because if we continued, the roof of his bunker would collapse. At that moment, he opened the hatch, where the military was already located, and climbed out of the hole where he was hiding. That's how we detained him,' Reimberg said. Soldiers pinned Macías to the ground, pointed weapons at him and ordered him to say his full name out loud. 'Adolfo Macías Villamar,' he said while lying on the floor with his hands behind his back, footage from the army showed. After the operation, authorities arrested Macías, along with four other men identified as part of his security detail. Macías was immediately transferred to the Manta Air Base and then to the Guayaquil Air Base. From there, he was taken to the maximum-security La Roca prison, located in the Guayaquil prison complex, behind La Regional prison, from where he escaped in January 2024. A photo later released by the interior ministry showed the drug lord locked inside his cell. President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador is working to extradite him to the United States – where he faces drugs and weapons charges – and is awaiting a response from American officials. Macías is one of Ecuador's most notorious gangsters and is the only founding member of Los Choneros believed to still be alive. In 2011 he was sentenced 'for a string of crimes, including homicides and narcotics trafficking,' according to think tank Insight Crime, but sprung out of jail in February 2013 before being recaptured months later. Little is known about his life prior to crime, but he gained a reputation for being the gang's money laundering expert while incarcerated for over a decade. Before he fled prison in 2024, the government was planning on moving Macías to a higher-security facility. Noboa's press secretary told a local channel that the news had likely reached Macías and prompted him to make his escape.
CNN
20 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
How authorities found a drug kingpin's luxurious hideout in Ecuador
Ecuadorian forces have revealed how they captured the country's most-wanted man, drug lord Adolfo 'Fito' Macías, more than a year after his brazen prison escape prompted the president to declare an internal armed conflict to crack down on the country's most violent gangs. After an almost 18-month manhunt for the leader of the criminal group Los Choneros, the Ecuadorian Security Bloc made a breakthrough on June 25. They obtained intelligence that alerted them to a luxurious home in the province of Manabí, the gang's longtime stronghold for drug operations. Authorities immediately traveled to the area and launched a 10-hour operation to try to find and capture the notorious gangster. To prevent the raid from being thwarted, the military and police shut down access within a 15-block radius so no one could enter or leave the site. Special teams from the armed forces eventually entered the property to gather more information and take control of the house. It was a fully equipped villa, featuring a pool, a gym, appliances, a game room, marble-like walls, and features that indicated the property was still under construction. In one area of the house, there was a perfectly camouflaged hole in the floor, containing a bunker with hidden access and air conditioning. 'Police and armed forces on the scene began conducting a search with instruments to see where alias 'Fito' was hiding,' Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg said. A surveillance flight had identified an irregular crop field behind the house, so authorities requested the use of excavators to locate the drug lord. 'They started to excavate. As soon as this happened, Fito panicked because if we continued, the roof of his bunker would collapse. At that moment, he opened the hatch, where the military was already located, and climbed out of the hole where he was hiding. That's how we detained him,' Reimberg said. Soldiers pinned Macías to the ground, pointed weapons at him and ordered him to say his full name out loud. 'Adolfo Macías Villamar,' he said while lying on the floor with his hands behind his back, footage from the army showed. After the operation, authorities arrested Macías, along with four other men identified as part of his security detail. Macías was immediately transferred to the Manta Air Base and then to the Guayaquil Air Base. From there, he was taken to the maximum-security La Roca prison, located in the Guayaquil prison complex, behind La Regional prison, from where he escaped in January 2024. A photo later released by the interior ministry showed the drug lord locked inside his cell. President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador is working to extradite him to the United States – where he faces drugs and weapons charges – and is awaiting a response from American officials. Macías is one of Ecuador's most notorious gangsters and is the only founding member of Los Choneros believed to still be alive. In 2011 he was sentenced 'for a string of crimes, including homicides and narcotics trafficking,' according to think tank Insight Crime, but sprung out of jail in February 2013 before being recaptured months later. Little is known about his life prior to crime, but he gained a reputation for being the gang's money laundering expert while incarcerated for over a decade. Before he fled prison in 2024, the government was planning on moving Macías to a higher-security facility. Noboa's press secretary told a local channel that the news had likely reached Macías and prompted him to make his escape.
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Ecuador's most wanted Narco found cowering under kitchen counter
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A criminal who escaped from prison in late 2023 was found in an underground bunker only accessible through a kitchen counter. 45-year-old Jose Adolfo Villamar, known as 'Fito', is the suspected leader of Los Choneros, Ecuador's largest criminal gang. He's now facing possible extradition to the US on seven charges issued against him in April this year. Villamar was convicted of murder and supplying the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel with tonnes of cocaine in 2011. But he escaped from Guayaquil Regional Prison 18 months ago, and the trail went cold until earlier this month. In early June, several members of his inner circle, including his brother and relatives of his partner, were arrested for allegedly laundering £17.5 million. He was found hiding in his hometown of Manta, with the Ecuadorian Army sharing images of its impressive layout on social media. Interior Minister John Reimberg said soldiers used an excavator to access the bunker during a 10-hour military operation. President Daniel Noboa called Fito one of the main targets of his war against organised crime in the country, which has one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America. 'We have done our part to proceed with Fito's extradition to the United States; we are awaiting their response,' he said. The government had issued a £727,730 reward for information leading to the gang leader's arrest. Following his recapture, Fito was taken to Ecuador's maximum-security La Roca prison in Guayaquil to resume his 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, murder, and organised crime, imposed in 2011. In April, the US government issued seven charges against Fito, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine internationally, use of firearms, and smuggling arms. More Trending The US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Los Choneros and their leader in February 2024. Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said: 'Drug trafficking gangs such as Los Choneros, many with ties to powerful drug cartels in Mexico, threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities in Ecuador and throughout the region. 'We stand in support of Ecuador in its fight to combat drug trafficking, curb the proliferation of prison gangs and prison violence, and take back its streets.' The extradition process to the US is ongoing. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Woman in her 40s stabbed to death just yards away from London Stadium MORE: Sword attacker who murdered schoolboy in rampage jailed for at least 40 years MORE: Teenager caught cowering in bushes after stabbing neighbour 51 times
