Chief of infamous Ecuador drug gang who vanished from jail cell is indicted in U.S.
The fugitive chief of a violent Ecuadorian gang that relied on hitmen, bribes and navy weapons to do enterprise has been indicted in New York Metropolis on fees he imported hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the USA, authorities mentioned Wednesday.
José Adolfo Macías Villamar — whose nickname is “Fito” — has led Los Choneros and its “community of assassins and drug and weapon traffickers” since not less than 2020, U.S. Lawyer John Durham mentioned in a information launch. Macías Villamar escaped from a jail in Ecuador final 12 months and isn’t in U.S. custody.
“The defendant was a ruthless chief and prolific drug trafficker for a violent transnational legal group,” he mentioned.
With an in depth legal document together with fees of homicide and arranged crime, Macías Villamar has cultivated a cult standing amongst fellow gang members and the general public in his house nation. Whereas behind bars in 2023, he launched a video addressed to “the Ecuadorian folks” whereas flanked by armed males. He additionally threw events in jail, the place he had entry to every thing from liquor to roosters for cockfighting matches.
The seven-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn fees Macias Villamar and an unidentified co-defendant with worldwide cocaine distribution, conspiracy and weapons counts, together with smuggling firearms from the USA.
Los Choneros employed folks to purchase firearms, elements and ammunition in the USA and smuggle them into Ecuador, in response to the indictment. Cocaine would stream into the USA with the assistance of Mexican cartels. Collectively, the teams managed key cocaine trafficking routes by means of Ecuador, violently concentrating on regulation enforcement, politicians, attorneys and civilians who stood in the best way.
“Los Choneros operated an enormous community accountable for the cargo and distribution of multi-ton portions of cocaine from South America by means of Central America and Mexico to the USA and elsewhere,” the indictment says. “The overwhelming majority of medication trafficked by Los Choneros had been imported into the USA, the place the medicine had been consumed.”
In January 2024, Macias Villamar was found lacking from his jail cell in Quito, Ecuador, the place he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking. A 60-day state of emergency was declared after his escape, the BBC reported.
Ecuador’s Ministry of Inside through AP, File 
Final 12 months, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the gang Los Choneros in addition to Macias Villamar.
Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian authorities introduced that the reward for the seize of Macias Villamar can be elevated to $1 million.
Los Choneros is one among 20 legal gangs declared “terrorist teams” by Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa, who has led a conflict on drug gangs blamed for a surge in violent crime within the once-peaceful South American nation.
Noboa declared a state of emergency and deployed troops within the streets and violence-riddled prisons, leading to a slight dip in murder charges in 2024 from the earlier 12 months. The president took motion final 12 months after gunmen stormed and opened fireplace in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions of civilians and safety forces. A prosecutor investigating the assault was later shot useless.
Earlier this 12 months, a frontrunner of one among Ecuador’s greatest crime syndicates, Los Lobos, was arrested at his house within the coastal metropolis of Portoviejo. The U.S. final 12 months declared Los Lobos to be the biggest drug trafficking group in Ecuador.
