Wearing one of the orange uniforms reserved for the most dangerous criminals in US prisons. This could be the fate of Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, leader of the feared Ecuadorian criminal gang “Los Choneros”.

The justice system in the North American country has asked Ecuador to extradite Macias, better known as alias “Fito”. This was confirmed this Tuesday by the National Court of Justice (CNJ) in a statement published X.

The request for the extradition of the leader of “Los Choneros” came just 13 days after the Ecuadorian military and police authorities managed to recapture him, following a search that lasted 17 months.

In January 2024, Macias, 45, made headlines again when it was learned that he escaped from the Guayaquil prison, where he was serving a 34-year sentence.

The arrest of “Fito” occurred in the midst of an impressive police and military operation that lasted more than 10 hours. During the operation, authorities used radar and sonar to find the bunker, beneath a house located in the town of Montecristi, about 400 kilometers from Quito, where the fugitive was hiding.

If the Court accepts the US request, the criminal will become the first Ecuadorian to be extradited, following the constitutional amendment promoted by the president of the South American country, Daniel Noboa, in April 2024.

A long list of crimes

As “a ruthless leader and prolific drug trafficker of a violent transnational criminal organization.” These were the terms in which the Federal Prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, John J. Durham, referred to Macias when he announced his intention to put him in the dock last April.

Immediately afterwards, Durham announced that he had filed an indictment against the leader of “Los Choneros” that included seven charges before the courts of Brooklyn (New York):

“By leading the ‘Los Choneros’ network of murderers and drug and arms traffickers and shipping potentially lethal quantities of cocaine to the United States, the defendant has caused great harm to his own country and to the United States, the destination of the vast majority of ‘Los Choneros’ cocaine shipments,” the prosecutor said.

If tried and convicted in the United States, alias “Fito” faces sentences of 10 years to life in prison, the organization Insight Crime reported.

Durham said that his intention to prosecute Macias was a “significant blow” against the drug cartels.

“It sends a clear message that no one who drives this lethal trade is beyond the reach of justice,” he said.

“Los Choneros” were born in the 1990s in the city of Chone, in the coastal province of Manabí; and from there they spread to Manta and other towns on the Pacific coast.

By 2023, the gang was estimated to have between 12,000 and 20,000 members, which is why it was considered one of the most important criminal organizations in Ecuador.

Authorities originally identified it as an armed wing of a Colombian cartel, which sought to control maritime trafficking routes to Mexico and the US. But it is also said to have ties to dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, whom they helped smuggle cocaine out of Colombia, according to Ecuadorian media.

However, today the US justice system also links the group to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, for which they facilitate key cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador. He also operates a large-scale network responsible for the shipment and distribution of tons of cocaine from South America, through Central America and Mexico, to the United States and elsewhere.

US authorities claim that under Macias’s direction, “Los Choneros” shipped large quantities of drugs to the United States and also committed violent acts against law enforcement, Ecuadorian politicians, lawyers, prosecutors, and civilians.

Ultimately launching the legal change

If the Ecuadorian justice system gives the green light to Macias’s extradition, the leader of “Los Choneros” will become the first Ecuadorian to be handed over to the justice system of another country in decades. This will occur thanks to the constitutional amendment that President Noboa promoted last year.

Until April 2024, Article 79 of the Ecuadorian Constitution established: “Under no circumstances will the extradition of an Ecuadorian or Ecuadorian. His trial will be subject to the laws of Ecuador."

However, In a referendum, the majority of Ecuadorians decided to rewrite the aforementioned rule and open the doors to the extradition of nationals to other jurisdictions for prosecution.

This decision represented a 180-degree turn and the end of a restriction that had remained unchanged in all constitutions since 1946; that is, for almost eight decades.

Noboa defended the change, arguing that it was essential to combat crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, and money laundering.

“Now we will have more tools to fight crime and bring peace back to Ecuadorian families,” he declared upon learning the results of the popular referendum that approved the amendment.

Next Steps

The extradition of “Fito” will be analyzed by the president of the Supreme Court, José Suing Nagua, the high court stated in its statement.

The magistrate must consult the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office and then hold a hearing, where the requested person will have the opportunity to express their arguments in relation to the request against him.

So far, the date on which the hearing could be held has not been announced and, meanwhile, Macias is being held in the maximum security prison of La Roca, in Guayaquil.

However, the Ecuadorian government has made it clear that the extradition of the leader of “Los Choneros” will occur.

“The moment the US sends us the extradition letter, we will gladly send it and have him answer to US law. If it’s today, today. If it’s tomorrow, tomorrow. As soon as possible would be the best,” Noboa said a few weeks ago.

Interior Minister John Reimberg spoke in similar terms.

“Organized crime no longer has allies or hiding places. We are going to finish what we started, even to say: have a good trip Fito,” the official wrote in a message posted on his X account.

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