Ecuador recaptures gang leader wanted in the United States more than a
year after his prison escape
[June 26, 2025]
By GONZALO SOLANO and GABRIELA MOLINA
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A fugitive drug trafficker wanted by authorities
in Ecuador and the United States was recaptured more than a year after
he escaped from prison in the Andean nation, Ecuadorian President Daniel
Noboa announced Wednesday.
José Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito,” who led a gang called “Los Choneros"
in Ecuador and 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.
Interpol had issued an arrest warrant for Macias after hi s 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 didn't find him in his cell.
The Ecuadorian army confirmed Macias' recapture in what appeared to be
the basement of a house. A video provided by the army showed the moment
of the arrest, with a uniformed officer aiming a gun at the head of the
drug trafficker, who gave his full name. The officers had found him
hiding in a small hole beneath what appeared to be a kitchen counter.
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.
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Escorted by soldiers and police officers, Adolfo "Fito" Macias, the
leader of the Choneros gang, arrives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, after
getting detained, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Joffre Flores)
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.
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