José Adolfo Macías Villamar, also known as “Fito,” an Ecuadorian gang leader is scheduled to appear in US federal court on Monday. He will plead not guilty to international charges of drug and guns trafficking, his attorney said.
“Mr. Macias and I will appear tomorrow before the Brooklyn federal court … where he will plead not guilty. After, he will be held in a to-be-determined prison,” his lawyer, Alexei Schacht, told Reuters.
The boss of the violent Ecuadorian gang, Los Choneros, that conducted business using hitmen, bribery, and military weapons was extradited to the US by Ecuador on Sunday.
Last year, Fito, escaped from an Ecuadorian prison and was recaptured in late June. He was indicted by a US Attorney in New York City in April on allegations that he brought thousands of pounds of cocaine into the country.
In a message to journalists, Ecuador’s government agency in charge of prison supervision, SNAI, stated that Fito “was removed from the La Roca Detention Center under the custody of the National Police and Armed Forces for the appropriate proceedings in the context of an extradition process.”
The handover’s specifics were not made clear.
In a photograph released by SNAI, Fito is seen dressed in a helmet, shorts, a bulletproof vest, and a T-shirt and guarded by several police officers at an unidentified location.
The Ecuadorian will appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday. He will next be held in an unspecified prison, Schacht said.
After the United States provided a document to Ecuador with guarantees for the 45-year-old gang leader’s rights to be respected, the decision to extradite him was made.
Fito is the leader of the Los Choneros since 2020. The criminal organisation was founded in the 1990s. According to the April indictment, the group hired others to buy guns and ammo in the US and smuggle them into Ecuador.
Mexican cartels would help bring cocaine into the US. By violently attacking law enforcement officers, politicians, attorneys, and anybody else who stood in their way, the organisations collectively controlled important cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador.
Fito was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organised crime, and murder when he broke out of a jail in Guayaquil.
In Ecuador, Fito has developed a cult-like following among his fellow gang members and the masses. In 2023, while incarcerated, he released a video in which he addressed “the Ecuadorian people” while accompanied by armed men. In prison, he also hosted parties where he had access to roosters for cockfighting and alcohol.
According to prison authorities, Fito is the first Ecuadorian to be extradited to the US. Two additional drug traffickers from Ecuador were previously captured in Colombia and turned over to the US.