Ecuadorian drug lord extradited, pleads not guilty after prison escape

BROOKLYN (CN) — After escaping from prison twice and facing extradition to the United States, the leader of what prosecutors called “Ecuador’s most violent and powerful transnational criminal organization” was arraigned Monday in federal court.

As the leader of Los Choneros, José Adolfo “Fito” Macías Villamar used extensive trafficking networks — including partnering with Mexican cartels like the Sinaloa cartel — to transport cocaine from Colombia through Ecuador and into Mexico, the U.S. government says.

Macías is accused of commanding kidnappings, murder and torture via sicarios, or hitmen, and using bribes to maintain Los Choneros’ power.

“His reach was far and wide,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Chand Edwards-Balfour said Monday during Macías’ arraignment. “The defendant directed murders; he threatened politicians, lawyers and civilians.”

For example, members of Los Choneros raided an Ecuadorian television station in January 2024, armed with guns, grenades and dynamite, and took journalists hostage.

The 45-year-old Macías was in Ecuador’s custody until his extradition on Sunday. He didn’t present a bail package during his court appearance, where he pleaded not guilty, and is expected to return to court in September.

His attorney Alexei Schacht asked that he receive medical care, including to tend to residual health problems from being shot decades ago.

“He has bullet fragments embedded in his body in different places that cause him ongoing problems,” Schacht told U.S. Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon.

Macías escaped from prison most recently in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in early 2024, spending almost 18 months on the lam before his June 25 arrest.

Authorities found the 45-year-old in a “luxury villa compound” in Manta, Ecuador, hiding beneath a bunker with a trap door at a facility equipped with a pool, gym and game room, according to his detention memo.

It wasn’t the first time he’d fled from prison in the South American country; he did the same in February 2013, following 2011 murder, weapons and drug trafficking charges that landed him a 34-year prison sentence. To carry out that escape, prosecutors say he “immobilized” 14 prison guards, and was recaptured months later.

Even while detained, the government says Macías continued directing Los Choneros, acting as the “unofficial leader of the prison where he was held.” He had internet and cellphone access, and held parties with fireworks and mariachi band performances.

He also released videos from prison mocking the Ecuadorian government, including a music video in September 2023 featuring Macías and his daughter, which was recorded partially inside the prison and “glorifies his criminal activities.”

Macías is charged with international cocaine distribution and distribution conspiracy; using firearms for drug trafficking; smuggling goods from the U.S.; and straw purchasing of firearms in a seven-count superseding indictment.

He’s charged alongside two other accused Los Choneros leaders: Darío Javier Peñafiel Nieto, known as “Topo,” and Francisco Manuel Bermudez Cagua, or “Churron.”

If convicted, Macías faces a possible life sentence.

“The defendant and his co-conspirators flooded the United States and other countries with drugs and used extreme measures of violence in their quest for power and control,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said in a statement. “This case demonstrates our office’s commitment to identifying and targeting the leadership of such organizations, wherever they may be located, and bringing them to face justice here in the United States.”

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