Notorious Ecuadoran d.r.u.g trafficker Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito,” pleaded not guilty Monday at an arraignment in the United States, a month after he was recaptured following a 2024 prison escape. The leader of the Los Choneros gang pleaded “not guilty” through his lawyer to seven charges including d.r.u.g trafficking and a.r.m.s trafficking, punishable by 20 years to life imprisonment.
Macias was extradited to the United States by Ecuador on Sunday, becoming the first Ecuadorian to be extradited straight from Ecuador to the United States.
Last year, Macías broke out of an Ecuadorian prison and was apprehended in late June. He was indicted by a U.S. Attorney in New York City in April on allegations that he brought thousands of pounds of cocaine into the country.
Macías “was removed from the La Roca Detention Center under the custody of the National Police and Armed Forces for the appropriate proceedings in the context of an extradition process,” Ecuador’s government agency responsible for overseeing prisons, SNAI, said in a message sent to journalists.
Details of the handover were not specified.
A photograph released by SNAI showed Macías wearing a T-shirt, shorts, a bulletproof vest and helmet. Several police officers were guarding him at an undisclosed location.
Macías and an unnamed co-defendant are charged with worldwide cocaine distribution, conspiracy, and w.e.a.p.o.n.s crimes, including s.m.u.g.g.l.i.n.g firearms from the United States, in a seven-count indictment that was unsealed in Brooklyn.
The extradition decision came after the United States sent a document to Ecuador offering guarantees for the respect of the rights of the 45-year-old criminal leader.
Since 2020, Macías has led “Los Choneros,” a criminal organization that emerged in the 1990s. The gang employed people to buy firearms and ammunition in the United States and smuggle them into Ecuador, according to April’s indictment. Cocaine would flow into the United States with the help of Mexican cartels. Together, the groups controlled key cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador, violently targeting law enforcement, politicians, lawyers and civilians who stood in the way.
The United States named Los Choneros one of the most violent gangs last year and confirmed that it is affiliated with influential Mexican drug cartels that pose a threat to Ecuador and the surrounding area.
The gang is categorized as a terrorist organization by Ecuadorian authorities. The Ecuadorian government declared that the reward for Macias’ capture will be raised to $1 million while he was still evading capture.
Macías escaped from a Guayaquil prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for d.r.u.g trafficking, organized crime, and m.u.r.d.e.r. He was recaptured a year and a half later on the country’s central coast.
Macías has cultivated a cult status among fellow gang members and the public in his home country. While behind bars in 2023, he released a video addressed to “the Ecuadorian people” while flanked by armed men. He also threw parties in prison, where he had access to everything from liquor to roosters for cockfighting matches.
Macías is the first Ecuadorian to be extradited to the U.S. from Ecuador, prison authorities said. Two other Ecuadorian d.r.u.g traffickers have previously been handed over to the United States but from Colombia, where they were arrested.
A leader of Los Lobos, one of Ecuador’s largest crime syndicates, was taken into custody at his residence in the seaside city of Portoviejo earlier this year. Los Lobos’ second-in-command, Carlos D., also known by his pseudonym “El Chino,” was “considered a high-value target,” according to a statement from the military.
Los Lobos was named the biggest d.r.u.g trafficking gang in Ecuador by the United States last year.
