“Fito” Macias, Ecuador's Most Wanted Drug Trafficker | His escape from Guayaquil prison unleashed a spiral of violence

From bombings, looting, shootings and burning vehicles Armed men entered a television studio During the live broadcast. Violence erupted across Ecuador this week after Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito,” escaped from prison, from where he commanded “Los Soneros,” one of the country's main criminal gangs.

Macias, 44, escaped last Sunday from the Littoral prison in Guayaquil, where he had been serving a 34-year sentence since 2011 — for convictions for organized crime, drug trafficking and murder. He escaped moments before the police transferred him to a maximum security prison. More than 3,000 uniformed officers searched for him to no avail Even on prison roofs and gutters. Authorities were slow to identify the escape and at first it was thought that “Fito” was hiding inside the same prison.

appearance

“Fito” was born on November 18, 1979 in San Pablo de Manta. In the same province, in Manabi, there is another town called Son, where drug gangs existed in the 90s. “The Conneros”. The organization thrived on international drug trafficking routes, particularly the transportation of cocaine from Colombia to Central or North America. Now they have it Links to the Sinaloa cartels, the Gulf Clan – the world's largest exporter of cocaine – and Balkan organizationsAccording to Ecuador's organized crime watchdog.

Fito's first criminal record dates back to 2000, when he was first arrested for robbery. In 2011, he was arrested again for drug trafficking and organized crime. He was known as “La Roca” until 2013 at Quas no. 2 was placed in the Men's Community Rehabilitation Centre.

On February 11 of that year, Macías and 17 other high-risk prisoners escaped from prison and used boats and rafts across the Daule River. However, three months later, in the early hours of May 26, he was recaptured by the National Police in his hometown. After his recapture, “Fito” was transferred to the Littoral Penitentiary in the city of Guayaquil, the largest in the entire country.

rise

In this drug trafficker's world, the saying “a dead king is a king” applies. His rise to the top of a band of about 8,000 people was due to the successive deaths of his predecessors. Despite being incarcerated, in 2020, he assumed leadership of the organization after the deaths of his friends, George Luis Zambrano, Rasquina, and Jr. Roldan, JR.

According to local media First fruitsIn prison in Guayaquil Not only did the criminal get a law degree But for a decade he controlled their drug-trafficking operations, spread extortion practices and ordered murders. The newspaper promises that in May 2023, The boss had over $23 million Among the front men, shell companies and other activities.

Apparently, led by Macías, The gang hatched a plan to extort money from other inmates. The calculations of the Directorate of Narcotics Investigation are cited First fruitsIt is estimated that the criminal activity inside the prison can earn up to $70,000 per week per cell. Fito “exercised significant internal control of the detention center,” the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said. In the 2022 report made after the meeting with the employer. The organization added that Macías was treated differently and preferentially by prison officials.

escape

however, When he fled, he left the place decorated with his own effigy, arms, dollars, and lions rearing figures.. Videos show celebrations inside the prison with musicians and pyrotechnics. He recorded a video clip of a narcocarrido in his honor on a patio performed by a mariachi and his daughter, who introduces herself as Queen Michelle. In the video, he can be seen greeting, laughing and affectionate with the fighting rooster. “Activos, soneros, here we are the lions. We're the bosses, controlling the neighborhood, as Uncle Fito thought,” was one of several viral songs praising the drug-trafficking and crime syndicate.

In recent months, the drug lord was back on the front page of the media Assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, He accused the Colombian attacker of threatening him a week before he was shot dead in August. The justice system did not condemn “Fito” for the crime, but then-President Guillermo Lasso's government ordered his transfer to a maximum-security prison, prompting inmate protests in a stunning move by the general forces.

Now his photo is circulating across Ecuador with the caption “WANTED” again, while the 60-day exemption instituted by new President Daniel Nobo goes into effect Monday. After this operation the army is involved in restoring order on the streets Violence has been on the rise in recent days. In a brief message on the social network Instagram, the president said he was “not going to negotiate with terrorists” and that he was not going to rest “until peace returns to all the people of Ecuador.”