Ecuador: 'Fito,' the country's biggest drug trafficker, recaptured
The leader of the Choneros was captured in a bunker in the city of Manta and taken to a maximum security prison known as La Roca, in Guayaquil.
Adolfo Macias, alias Fito.
(AFP) Ecuador recaptured recaptured on Wednesday after a year and a half of searching for Adolfo "Fito" Macias, the country's most wanted criminal and drug trafficker.
President Daniel Noboa announced the arrest of the leader of Los Choneros, Ecuador’s most prominent criminal organization involved in arms trafficking and contract killings.
Adolfo Macias,the drug lord’s real name, "is in the hands of the Security Block," a special military and police task force combating drug trafficking, President Noboa announced on X.
Noboa’s government reported the drug lord’s escape from a prison in the port city of Guayaquil in January of last year. He was recaptured during an operation in Manta, a fishing port and stronghold of Los Choneros.
After his arrest, Fito was transferred to La Roca, a maximum-security prison in Guayaquil. He arrived in the city aboard a light aircraft and was escorted off by police and military personnel, according to an AFP photographer on the scene.
Interior Minister John Reimberg told a press conference that Fito was found hiding in a bunker, accessible through a floor tile in a luxury residence.
The government, which has adopted a tough-on-crime stance, vowed to go after more gang leaders. "We’re on their trail—nothing and no one will stop us," Reimberg declared.
Violence in Ecuador following Macias' escape
Following Fito’s escape, Ecuador was rocked by prison riots, a live TV station takeover, car bomb explosions, and the kidnapping of nearly 200 prison guards.
The escape and the wave of violence that followed dealt a major blow to President Noboa, who responded by declaring war on the armed groups that have turned Ecuador into one of the most violent countries in Latin America.
Who is Adolfo "Fito" Macias?
President Noboa’s government released “WANTED” images of his face and offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Before his escape, Fito was the undisputed ruler of his prison in Guayaquil, which was decorated with images glorifying him alongside weapons, money, and lions.
According to a 2022 report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Fito exercised “significant internal control of the penitentiary center” following a meeting with the capo.
He earned a law degree while incarcerated, serving a 34-year sentence for weapons possession, drug trafficking, organized crime, and murder.
Los Choneros, who began with common crimes such as high-sea robberies, later established ties with Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. They now have connections with the Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Clan and Balkan mafias, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime.
The Ministry of Defense estimates that the gang operates in 10 of Ecuador's 24 provinces.
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