CNN
–
Ecuador’s most infamous drug Kingpin was handed over to the United States a month after being recaptured after a prison escape that caused a wave of violence across the country.
According to Ecuadorian prison authorities, Jose Adolfo Macias, known as “Fito,” was transferred from the largest prison in the port city of Guayaquil to the city’s airport and handed over to the US authorities who arrived early to carry out the replacement process.
According to the city’s aviation agency, a US Department of Justice plane arrived in Guayaquil around 12:45pm local time and departed with the gang leader after 2pm. National Media Outlet TC Television reported that the plane arrived at the plane at 12:30pm and left at 2:12pm.
Photos released Sunday by Ecuadorian prison authorities showed Macias wearing a bullet vest as he was escorted by shorts, a T-shirt, helmet and several heavily armed national police agents.
Since at least 2020, Macias has led a powerful Los Coneros criminal organization. This accused the US of delivering and distributing multiple tons of cocaine from Ecuador to other countries.
Macias was charged in Brooklyn Federal Court in April with seven counts of drug trafficking and gun smuggling.
In January 2024, Macias escaped from the Guayaquil prison, where he was sentenced to 34 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking.
His escape unleashed a wave of violence in Ecuador. This included no live acquisition from a gang that raided popular television stations and took their crew hostage while they were airing. Shortly afterwards, President Daniel Novore declared an internal armed conflict, designating Los Ceneros and 21 other criminal groups as terrorist groups.
He was captured last month by Ecuadorian authorities in hiding for over a year. Authorities found him in a basement bunker by a mansion in Manavi. The villa was equipped with a home gym, marble walls, and a game room.
In court documents filed Sunday in the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors demanded that he be held custody until his trial.
The same document said Macias was handed over to the United States “for the sole purpose facing prosecution.”
Alexei Schacht, a lawyer for the US Macias, told CNN that his client will be in Brooklyn Federal Court on Monday without specifying a time for the hearing.
If convicted, Macias faces living behind bars, sentenced to a 10-year minimum sentence in prison.
