José Adolfo Macías, also known as ‘Fito,’ will be extradited to the United States due to charges of drug trafficking and weapons smuggling.
Macías, who had escaped from Guayaquil prison in January 2024, was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder.
Following his re-capture, Macías is set to be extradited to the US, where he faces charges from a federal court related to drug trafficking and gun running, as announced by Noboa on the social media platform X.
Previously, Noboa had offered a $1 million reward for information leading to Macías’s capture and mobilized thousands of police officers and military personnel in the search endeavor.
“My appreciation goes out to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, and we will reclaim the country. No truce,” Noboa stated on X.
For those who opposed and doubted the need for Solidarity and Intelligence laws: thanks to those laws, Fito was captured today and is in the hands of the Security Bloc.
My gratitude extends to our police officers and military who took part in this operation. More will fall…
— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) June 25, 2025
Reports indicate that Macías escaped ahead of a scheduled transfer to a high-security prison; however, the exact manner of his escape remains unexplained by authorities.
His successful escape “instigated widespread riots, bombings, kidnappings, the murder of a prominent prosecutor, and an armed attack on a TV network during a live broadcast,” according to the United States government, resulting in Noboa declaring a 60-day state of emergency throughout Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian president also officially classified 22 gangs, including Los Choneros, as “terrorist groups.”
In February 2024, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on both Macías and Los Choneros for drug trafficking and inciting violence in Ecuador.
Ecuador, once considered one of Latin America’s safest nations, has become a hotbed of criminal activity due to its close proximity to Peru and Colombia, the world’s leading producers of cocaine, making it a prime target for drug trafficking operations.
The conflict between local gangs, supported by foreign crime syndicates stretching from Mexico to Albania, has ignited a significant surge in violence nationwide.
