Ecuadorian drug trafficker Adolfo “Fito” Macias was extradited to the United States on Sunday to face charges of cocaine distribution, conspiracy, and firearms violations. Macias, a former taxi driver and leader of the “Los Choneros” gang since 2020, was shown in a photograph released by Ecuador’s prisons agency, wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet while guarded by police officers.
The United States authorities indicted Macias for running an organization that buys firearms and ammunition in the United States and smuggling them into Ecuador, while using Mexican cartels to transport cocaine in the opposite direction. Ecuador, once a peaceful country between top cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, now sees over 70 percent of the world’s cocaine passing through its ports.
Macias was extradited after his January 2024 escape from a maximum-security prison in southwestern Ecuador, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime, and murder. President Daniel Noboa declared Ecuador to be in a state of “internal armed conflict” and ordered the military onto the streets in response to the escape, which was criticized by human rights organizations.
Macias’ extradition, the first of its kind in Ecuador, reflects the country’s growing role in the global cocaine trade.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/ecuador-drug-lord-fito-extradited-to-us/a-73345332?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
