Ecuador’s most wanted poison lord ‘Fito’ is captured in “underground bunker”

Ecuadorian police have taken back Adolfo Macías Villamar, the country’s most wanted fugitive.

Macías, also known for the alias “Fito”, is the leader of Los Choneros, a powerful criminal gang that blames Ecuador for his transformation from a tourist paradise to one of the highest murder rates in the region.

He is also suspected of ordering Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated in 2023.

Police tracked him down to what they called the underground bunker, which is the luxurious residence in Manta City.

A police spokesman said no shots were fired during the 10-hour joint operation between the police and the military.

A large number of officers first monitored and surrounded the three-story houses in the Monterrey community on the Ecuadorian coast.

As they rushed into the building, they found a sliding trap door, disguised as part of a slate that looked like a slate, from which the metal staircase led to Fito’s underground hideout.

The “Bucket” is equipped with air conditioning, bed, fan and refrigerator.

The house itself boasts a gym with punched bags and a game room where he can play the pool and table football.

Fito reportedly had no resistance and was transferred by the airline to the port city of Guayaquil, where several of the largest prisons in Ecuador were located.

Video of his arrival at Guayaquil shows him wearing shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops while being led by armed security personnel to a parked SUV before being transferred to the La Roca Supreme Security Prison.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa praised security forces for capturing Fito and said he would be extradited to the United States, where he was charged with cocaine smuggling.

Fito escaped from the Los Angeles-area prison in Guayaquil in January 2024 with the help of at least two guards, attracting the attention of the global media.

It sparked a deadly prison riot in which guards were taken hostage and prompted Noboa to declare a state of emergency.

But Fito was already notorious before escaping. While he was imprisoned – while being sentenced to 34 years for murder and drug trafficking, he rose to the top of the Los Jonas gang after the killing of his former leader.

He coordinated the gang’s activities from behind, including drug trafficking and blackmail.

He is also suspected of ordering the murder of politician Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead at a campaign rally just days before the 2023 election.

Under Fito, Los Choneros formed a connection with Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel, an alliance that experts say led to the terrible strategies commonly used by Mexican cartels (such as beheading and dismemberment) that spread to Ecuador.

Shortly before his escape in prison, he also appeared in a “Narco Corido” – a smooth music video of his daughter glorious father’s criminal exploitation.

Partially recorded in the prison, the video shows him stroking the fighting cock and chatting freely with the prisoner.

The gang leader’s escape in 2024 is a blow to the Noboa government. The Ecuadorian leader took office in November 2023 after being elected to fight the gang’s growing power.

Noboa said Wednesday that the prisoners of the poison ord were the way to prove him – including making laws that gave him the power to declare “armed internal conflict” and allowing police to search without a warrant.

He posted on X: “More (Virus lord) will fall and we will regain the (control) country.”