Ecuador says it has recaptured Fito, the country’s most wanted fugitive

# Ecuador says it has recaptured Fito, the country’s most wanted fugitive

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa says security forces have recaptured José Adolfo Macías Villamar, better known as Fito, the leader of the Los Choneros criminal group and the country’s most wanted fugitive. The arrest brings back into custody a man whose escape from prison last year became a symbol of Ecuador’s worsening security crisis.

DW reported that Macías was captured in Ecuador, with the Associated Press citing officials as saying the arrest took place in Manta, his hometown. Noboa’s announcement did not include full operational details, but it did thank police and the military for taking part in what he presented as a major state success.

The capture matters because Macías is not a low-level figure. DW said he was sentenced in 2011 to 34 years in prison for drug trafficking, murder and other crimes, and that the United States has sought his extradition. Quito has requested extradition to the US, according to the report, and Washington is still expected to respond.

The prison escape that put him back in the national spotlight remains murky. DW said Macías disappeared from the Guayaquil Regional Prison in 2024 during an episode of violence and that it is still not clear how he got out. The article also notes that he had enjoyed an unusual level of access and status behind bars, including the ability to release a video message in 2023 surrounded by armed men.

Noboa’s government had put a $1 million reward on his head. That figure underlines how central Fito had become to the government’s narrative about organised crime and the state’s struggle to regain control. His recapture gives Noboa a tangible win at a time when Ecuador has been facing severe pressure from gangs.

The Los Choneros gang has also been sanctioned by the United States, DW said, adding another layer of international scrutiny to the case. For Ecuador, the arrest is not just about one fugitive but about whether the state can reverse the perception that prisons and public order have slipped beyond its control.

Macías is now due to face international gun and drug charges in federal court in New York. If extradited, the case could move from an Ecuadorian security story into a broader transnational prosecution.

For the moment, Noboa is presenting the arrest as a signal that the state is still capable of striking at top organised-crime figures. The harder test will be whether the capture changes anything lasting in a country where gang violence and prison insecurity have repeatedly exposed the limits of government power.