U.S. Federal Court indicts head of Ecuador's Los Choneros on drug and gun charges

Inmates protest against the transfer of the criminal leader "Fito" from prison in Guayaquil

FILE PHOTO: Banners calling for the return of Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as "Fito", pictured at the Zonal prison number 8, in Guayaquil, Ecuador August 14, 2023. REUTERS/Vicente Gaibor del Pino/File Photo

Source: X07260

A U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, New York has indicted Jose Adolfo "Fito" Macias Villamar, leader of Los Choneros, one of Ecuador's most violent drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations, on international drug and gun charges, the Department of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday.

Macias disappeared in January last year from the Ecuadorean prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for various crimes including drug trafficking and murder.

Ecuadorean authorities have tied Macias' criminal group Los Choneros to extortion, murder and drug trafficking and accuse the group of controlling Ecuador's crime-plagued and overcrowded prisons.

The government of President Daniel Noboa had offered a reward of $1 million for information leading to Macias' capture.

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters