The fugitive chief of a violent Ecuadorian gang that relied on hitmen, bribes and army weapons to do enterprise has been indicted in New York Metropolis on costs he imported 1000’s of kilos of cocaine into the US, authorities stated Wednesday.
José Adolfo Macías Villamar — whose nickname is “Fito” — has led Los Choneros and its “community of assassins and drug and weapon traffickers” since at the least 2020, U.S. Legal professional John Durham stated in a news release. Macías Villamar escaped from a jail in Ecuador final yr and isn’t in U.S. custody.
“The defendant was a ruthless chief and prolific drug trafficker for a violent transnational legal group,” he stated.
With an in depth legal report together with costs of homicide and arranged crime, Macías Villamar has cultivated a cult standing amongst fellow gang members and the general public in his dwelling 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 every part from liquor to roosters for cockfighting matches.
The seven-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn costs Macias Villamar and an unidentified co-defendant with worldwide cocaine distribution, conspiracy and weapons counts, together with smuggling firearms from the US.
Los Choneros employed individuals to purchase firearms, parts and ammunition in the US and smuggle them into Ecuador, in response to the indictment. Cocaine would circulation into the US with the assistance of Mexican cartels. Collectively, the teams managed key cocaine trafficking routes by way of Ecuador, violently focusing on legislation enforcement, politicians, legal professionals and civilians who stood in the best way.
“Los Choneros operated an enormous community liable for the cargo and distribution of multi-ton portions of cocaine from South America by way of Central America and Mexico to the US and elsewhere,” the indictment says. “The overwhelming majority of medication trafficked by Los Choneros have been imported into the US, the place the medication have been consumed.”
In January 2024, Macias Villamar was found lacking from his jail cell in Quito, Ecuador, the place he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking. A 60-day state of emergency was declared after his escape, the BBC reported.
Ecuador’s Ministry of Inside by way of AP, File
Final yr, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the gang Los Choneros in addition to Macias Villamar.
Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian authorities introduced that the reward for the seize of Macias Villamar can be elevated to $1 million.
Los Choneros is one among 20 criminal gangs declared “terrorist teams” by Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa, who has led a warfare on drug gangs blamed for a surge in violent crime within the once-peaceful South American nation.
Noboa declared a state of emergency and deployed troops within the streets and violence-riddled prisons, leading to a slight dip in murder charges in 2024 from the earlier yr. The president took motion final yr after gunmen stormed and opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions of civilians and safety forces. A prosecutor investigating the assault was later shot dead.
Earlier this yr, a frontrunner of one among Ecuador’s greatest crime syndicates, Los Lobos, was arrested at his home within the coastal metropolis of Portoviejo. The U.S. last year declared Los Lobos to be the biggest drug trafficking group in Ecuador.
