Ecuador extradites leader of violent Ecuadorian drug gang to the United
States
[July 21, 2025]
By GABRIELA MOLINA
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador on Sunday extradited to the United States
the leader of a violent Ecuadorian gang who relied on hitmen, bribes and
military weapons to do business.
José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is “Fito,” escaped from a
prison in Ecuador last year and was recaptured late June. In April, a
U.S. Attorney indicted him in New York City on charges he imported
thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States.
Macías “was removed from the La Roca Detention Center under the custody
of the National Police and Armed Forces for the appropriate proceedings
in the context of an extradition process,” Ecuador’s government agency
responsible for overseeing prisons, SNAI, said in a message sent to
journalists.
Details of the handover were not specified.
A photograph released by SNAI showed Macías wearing a T-shirt, shorts, a
bulletproof vest and helmet. Several police officers were guarding him
at an undisclosed location.
The Ecuadorian will appear Monday before Brooklyn's federal court "where
he will plead not guilty,” Macías’ lawyer Alexei Schacht told The
Associated Press via email. After that, he will be detained in a prison
yet to be determined, Schacht added.
The extradition decision came after the United States sent a document to
Ecuador offering guarantees for the respect of the rights of the
45-year-old criminal leader.
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Since 2020, Macías has led “Los Choneros,” a criminal organization
that emerged in the 1990s. The gang employed people to buy firearms
and ammunition in the United States and smuggle them into Ecuador,
according to April's indictment. Cocaine would flow into the United
States with the help of Mexican cartels. Together, the groups
controlled key cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador, violently
targeting law enforcement, politicians, lawyers and civilians who
stood in the way.
Macías escaped from a Guayaquil prison where he was serving a
34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime, and murder.
He was recaptured a year and a half later on the country's central
coast.
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.
Macías is the first Ecuadorian to be extradited to the U.S. from
Ecuador, prison authorities said. Two other Ecuadorian drug
traffickers have previously been handed over to the United States
but from Colombia, where they were arrested.
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