Ecuador extradites chief of violent drug gang to america : NPR

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador on Sunday extradited to america the chief of a violent Ecuadorian gang who relied on hitmen, bribes and army weapons to do enterprise.

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is “Fito,” escaped from a jail in Ecuador final 12 months and was recaptured late June. In April, a U.S. Lawyer indicted him in New York Metropolis on fees he imported hundreds of kilos of cocaine into america.

Macías “was faraway from the La Roca Detention Middle below the custody of the Nationwide Police and Armed Forces for the suitable proceedings within the context of an extradition course of,” Ecuador’s authorities company answerable for overseeing prisons, SNAI, mentioned in a message despatched to journalists.

Particulars of the handover weren’t specified.

{A photograph} launched by SNAI confirmed Macías sporting a T-shirt, shorts, a bulletproof vest and helmet. A number of law enforcement officials had been guarding him at an undisclosed location.

The Ecuadorian will seem Monday earlier than Brooklyn’s federal court docket “the place he’ll plead not responsible,” Macías’ lawyer Alexei Schacht informed The Related Press by way of e mail. After that, he might be detained in a jail but to be decided, Schacht added.

The extradition determination got here after america despatched a doc to Ecuador providing ensures for the respect of the rights of the 45-year-old prison chief.

Since 2020, Macías has led “Los Choneros,” a prison group that emerged within the Nineties. The gang employed individuals to purchase firearms and ammunition in america and smuggle them into Ecuador, in accordance with April’s indictment. Cocaine would movement into america with the assistance of Mexican cartels. Collectively, the teams managed key cocaine trafficking routes by way of Ecuador, violently concentrating on regulation enforcement, politicians, attorneys and civilians who stood in the way in which.

Macías escaped from a Guayaquil jail the place he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime, and homicide. He was recaptured a 12 months and a half in a while the nation’s central coast.

Macías has cultivated a cult standing amongst fellow gang members and the general public in his residence nation. Whereas behind bars in 2023, he launched a video addressed to “the Ecuadorian individuals” whereas flanked by armed males. He additionally threw events in jail, the place he had entry to all the pieces from liquor to roosters for cockfighting matches.

Macías is the primary Ecuadorian to be extradited to the U.S. from Ecuador, jail authorities mentioned. Two different Ecuadorian drug traffickers have beforehand been handed over to america however from Colombia, the place they had been arrested.