Adolfo Macias Villamar, the leader of the Ecuadorean gang, will appear in a federal court in the United States, according to his attorney. He will enter a plea not guilty to trafficking in drugs and weapons internationally.
The notorious drug trafficker was recaptured a month after escaping from a maximum-security penitentiary in 2024, according to the country’s prison system’s official website.
The Los Choneros gang’s leader, Macias, was serving a 34-year sentence in a Guayaquil prison for a number of crimes, including murder, organized crime, and drug trafficking.
According to the report, the flight carrying Macias made an overnight landing in New York State on Sunday night. Macias “will plead not guilty” to the Brooklyn federal court on Monday, according to his attorney, according to Reuters news agency.
Details regarding the extradition and handover to the US government were not made public. Following the extradition, the US government has not yet released an official statement.
In April, Macias was charged with the US Attorney’s Office with a charge of drug trafficking, conspiracy, and weapons-related offenses, including weapons smuggling.
The former taxi driver turned crime boss agreed to be charged in the US and be extradited to Quito last week.
After a referendum in which President Daniel Noboa sought the approval of measures to boost his fight against organized crime, he is the first Ecuadorean to be extradited by his nation since last year.
Colombia and Peru, two of the world’s two biggest cocaine exporters, once a haven for peaceful relations, have recently experienced violence as rival gangs with connections to Mexican and Colombian cartels compete for control in Ecuador.
Cult following
Noboa ordered the military and tanks to enter the streets of Ecuador shortly after Macias escaped from prison in January 2024 and immediately declared that the country was in “internal armed conflict.” Human rights organizations have criticized the action.
As a drug lord, Macias cultivated a cult following among his coworkers and the general public.
He was detained in 2023 and he released a video addressing “the Ecuadorian people” while surrounded by armed men. He also held cockfighting parties at roosters’ parties in prison, where he had access to everything from liquor to roosters.
According to the Ecuadorian Organised Crime Observatory, Macias’ Los Choneros has ties to the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, Gulf Clan in Colombia, which is the world’s largest cocaine exporter, and other Balkan mafias.
A massive military and police recapture operation, including government “wanted” posters offering $1 million for information leading to his arrest, sparked widespread violence and a ransom for his escape from prison.
In a luxurious mansion in Manta, the port of Manta, where Los Choneros operate from their base, on June 25, Macias was discovered hiding in a bunker hidden beneath floor tiles. The sooner the better, Noboa declared that he would be extradited.
Noboa told CNN at the time, “We will gladly send him and let him respond to the North American law.”
Source: Aljazeera
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