Drug lord ‘Fito’ agrees to extradition to the U.S.

Ecuador’s most infamous drug lord has agreed to be extradited to the United States to face cocaine and weapons smuggling charges. Appearing by video link in a Quito courtroom Friday, Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito”, answered “yes” when a judge asked if he consented to a government request that he go to trial in the U.S.

Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito” following his June 25 capture in Manta.

The announcement is the latest chapter in the dramatic underworld tale of Macias, who was recaptured in late June after escaping from a maximum-security prison 18 months ago in a jailbreak that triggered a bloody wave of gang violence.

Macias, head of the “Los Choneros” gang, is wanted in the U.S. on charges of cocaine distribution, conspiracy and firearms-related crimes, including weapons smuggling.

After Macias vanished from his prison cell in Guayaquil in January 2024, authorities had been scouring the world for him, offering a $1m reward for information leading to his capture. But it emerged that the country’s most wanted man was hiding out at a friend’s mansion in Manta.

Ecuadorian security forces recaptured the drug kingpin last month at an underground bunker beneath a marble-walled house in Manta.

The former taxi-driver-turned-crime-boss had been serving a 34-year sentence since 2011 for involvement in organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.

In a country plagued by drug-related crime, Los Choneros members responded with violence as the manhunt began after their leader’s escape – using car bombs, holding prison guards hostage and storming a Guayaquil television station during a live broadcast.

President Daniel Noboa’s government had recently declared, “We will gladly send him and let him answer to North American law.” Because of insecurity in Ecuador prisons. the government decided on extradition rather than keeping him in the country.

Macias, dressed in an orange prison uniform, took part in a court hearing Friday via videolink from a high-security prison in Guayaquil. In response to a judge’s question, he replied, “Yes, I accept (extradition).”

This would make Macias the first Ecuadorian extradited by his country since the measure was written into law last year, after a referendum in which Noboa sought the approval of measures to boost his war on criminal gangs.

Ecuador, once a peaceful haven wedged between the world’s two top cocaine exporters, Colombia and Peru, has seen violence erupt in recent years as rival gangs with ties to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control. These gang wars have largely played out inside the country’s prisons, where Macias wielded immense control. He was the unofficial boss of his Guayaquil prison, where authorities found images glorifying him, weapons and U.S. dollars.