Ecuador recaptures gang leader 'Fito' indicted by US

Ecuador's most-wanted fugitive, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal group, has been recaptured after escaping jail last year, President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday.

Jose Adolfo Macias, known as "Fito," disappeared from the Guayaquil prison where he was being held in January 2024, amid an explosion of violence, including the on-air invasion of a television station by armed men and the hostage-taking of more than 200 prison officials.

"My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce," said Noboa, whose government had offered a reward of $1 million for information leading to Macias' capture, on X.

Noboa said Ecuador had requested Macias be extradited to the U.S., where he is set to face international drug and gun charges in a federal court in New York.

Macias was sentenced in 2011 to 34 years in prison for various crimes including drug trafficking and murder.

The United States imposed sanctions on Los Choneros last year, saying they have been involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s and accusing the group of being a key driver of escalating violence in the country since 2020, including within overcrowded prisons.