Leader of the famous drug gang Ecuador who disappeared from the prison cell is accused of the US.

The fugitive leader of a violent Ecuadorian gang That depended on the success, bribes and military weapons to do business has been accused of New York City for positions that imported thousands of cocaine pounds in the United States, authorities said on Wednesday.

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is “Fito”, has led the Choneros and their “network of drugs and drug traffickers” since at least 2020, said US prosecutor John Durham in a press release. Macías Villamar escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and is not in custody of the United States.

“The defendant was a prolific ruthless and drug trafficker leader for a violent transnational criminal organization,” he said.

With an extensive criminal history that includes organized murder and crime positions, Macías Villamar has cultivated a state of cult between gang companions and the public in their country of origin. While he was behind bars in 2023, he released a video aimed at “The Ecuadorian People” while it was flanked by armed men. He also threw parties in prison, where he had access to everything, from liquor to roosters for rooster fighting.

The accusation of seven charges revealed in Brooklyn accuses Macias Villamar and an unidentified coacusado with the international distribution of cocaine, conspiracy and arms count, including the smuggling of firearms in the United States.

The Choneros used people to buy firearms, components and ammunition in the United States and smuggled in Ecuador, according to the accusation. Cocaine would flow to the United States with the help of Mexican posters. Together, the groups controlled the key cocaine traffic routes through Ecuador, violently pointing to the forces of the order, politicians, lawyers and civilians who interposed on the road.

“The Choneros operated a vast network responsible for the shipment and distribution of quantities of cocaine of several tons from South America through Central America and Mexico to the United States and other places,” says the accusation. “The vast majority of Choneros drugs were imported to the United States, where drugs were consumed.”

In January 2024, Macias Villamar was discovered missing in his prison cell in Quito, Ecuador, where he was serving a 34 -year sentence for drug trafficking. He declared an emergency state of 60 days after his escape, the BBC reported.

Last year, the United States Treasury imposed sanctions on the Los Choneros gang, as well as Macias Villamar.

Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian government announced that the reward for the capture of Macias Villamar would increase to $ 1 million.

The choneros is one of the 20 criminal gangs He declared “terrorist groups” by Ecuadorian President Daniel Nnovera, who has led a war against drug gangs blamed for an increase in violent crime in the South American country that was once folded.

Noboa declared a Emergency status and displayed troops In the streets and prisons full of violence, resulting in a slight fall in homicide rates in 2024 of the previous year. The president took action last year after The gunmen broke and opened fire In a television studio and the bandits threatened the random executions of civilians and security forces. A prosecutor who investigates the assault was later Dead thrown.

Earlier this year, a leader of one of the largest crimes unions in Ecuador, the wolves, was arrested at home in the coastal city of Portoviejo. He United States last year declared Lobos Be the largest drug trafficking organization in Ecuador.

In:
• Drug traffic
• United States Department of Justice
• Accusation
• Ecuador