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Ecuador
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Ecuador extradites notorious drug lord ‘Fito’ to US

Gang leader Adolfo Macias escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and was recaptured late June

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A photograph released by the Ecuadorean Prison Authority showed Adolfo Macias wearing a T-shirt, shorts, a bulletproof vest and helmet. Photo: SNAI via AFP
Agence France-Presse

The Ecuadorian government on Sunday extradited notorious drug trafficker Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, to the United States, a month after he was recaptured following a 2024 escape from a maximum-security jail, the country’s prison authority said.

The US Attorney’s Office filed charges in April against Macias, the head of the “Los Choneros” gang, on suspicion of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms violations, including weapons smuggling.

A letter filed by the US Department of Justice on Sunday said Macias was expected to appear in a federal court on Monday “for an arraignment on the Superseding Indictment in this case”.
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The drug lord on Sunday was removed from custody at a maximum-security prison in Ecuador’s southwest “for the purposes that correspond to the extradition process”, Ecuador’s prison authority SNAI said in a statement to reporters.
Adolfo Macias after he was recaptured last month. Photo: Ecuadorian Armed Forces via Reuters
Adolfo Macias after he was recaptured last month. Photo: Ecuadorian Armed Forces via Reuters

Macias, a former taxi driver turned crime boss, agreed in a Quito court last week to be extradited to the United States to face the charges.

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He is the first Ecuadorian extradited by his country since a new measure was written into law last year, after a referendum in which President Daniel Noboa sought the approval of moves to boost his war on criminal gangs.

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