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In this handout image provided by the armed forces of Ecuador, Jose Adolfo Macias is captured in Manta, Ecuador, on June 25. (Handout/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
By Ana María Cañizares and Abel Alvarado, CNN
(CNN) — Ecuador’s most wanted man and leader of the Los Choneros gang, Jose Adolfo Macias, was captured on Wednesday, according to the country’s President Daniel Noboa.
Macias, known as “Fito,” escaped from a prison in Guayaquil in January 2024 while serving a 34-year sentence for homicide and narcotics trafficking.
His escape unleashed a wave of violence in Ecuador, prompting Noboa to declare an internal armed conflict and designate Los Choneros and 21 other criminal groups operating in the country as terror organizations.
In February 2024, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Los Choneros and Macias over their drug trafficking and violent activities in Ecuador and across the continent.
Noboa said Ecuador is working to extradite him to the US and is awaiting a response from American officials.
The-CNN-Wire
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