José Adolfo Macías Villamar

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (January 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Fito (criminal)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Fito (criminal)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

José Adolfo Macías Villamar (born 30 September 1979),^[1] also known by the alias Fito, is an Ecuadorian drug lord and the current leader of Los Choneros cartel. He assumed leadership in 2020 following the murder of his predecessor Jorge Luis Zambrano. He had been incarcerated since 2011, having previously escaped prison and lived as a fugitive in 2013.^[2] In January 2024, he escaped from prison again, prompting a state of emergency to be called in Ecuador for sixty days and initiating the 2024 conflict in Ecuador.^[3] Until now, he has not been found.

Macías was first arrested in 2000 for committing robbery.^{[citation needed]}

In 2011, he was arrested for drug trafficking and organized crime and was imprisoned in La Roca Prison. On 11 February 2013, he escaped along with 17 other members of Los Choneros. To carry out the escape, they immobilized fourteen prison guards and fled by boats on the Daule River.^{[citation needed]} In May 2013, they were recaptured while at their own residence.^[2]

When Jorge Luis Zambrano, the previous leader of Los Choneros, was murdered in December 2020, Macías and Junior Roldán became the successors to the criminal syndicate. Three years later, Roldán was murdered, leaving Macías as the sole leader of Los Choneros. When Macías assumed leadership, many accused him of Zambrano's death to gain power in prison.^{[citation needed]} This caused a rupture in Los Choneros, as some claimed Zambrano would never have a successor.^[4]

He was serving a sentence of thirty-four years in the Litoral Penitentiary for organized crime, drug trafficking, and murders.^[5]

He escaped from prison in January 2024, leading the government to declare a state of emergency. In response, criminal gangs launched several attacks against civilians and the police.^[6]

Before his escape, he exercised "significant internal control of the prison" where he was incarcerated. Fito and Junior Roldán, another leader of 'Los Choneros' who was killed in 2023 in Colombia, had "differentiated and preferential treatment by the authorities".^[7]

On 17 November 2021, Macías's daughter was allegedly kidnapped along with her cousin. Later, on November 21, she was released and reported that the kidnapper did not harm or abuse them. It was revealed that the young women were kidnapped in the El Aromo area.^[8]

This biographical article related to crime is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

This Ecuador-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e