The manhunt for an escaped Ecuadorian criminal gang leader alias “Fito” has intensified.

(CNN Spanish) — More than 3,000 members of the police and armed forces have been deployed to locate Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito,” after the prosecutor’s office and the Ecuadorian government confirmed Sunday’s escape from Guayaquil regional prison. to the government.

Ecuador’s prosecutor’s office launched an ex officio investigation after the escape of “Fito,” the leader of the Los Choneros gang, one of the most feared among those working in Ecuador and who disputes control of the drug-trafficking territory with other criminal groups. .

“The search continues. The decision was that the subject is in another prison so that he does not continue to work (…) The most probable thing is that the information was leaked hours ago,” Roberto Ezurieta, the Secretary of Communications, told the local channel Telemazonas this Monday. The government intends to transfer Adolfo Macias to another prison where he will have less “upside” for law enforcement, according to Ezurita.

No one has yet said when the Los Choneros leader disappeared from prison.

On August 12, 2023, in a strong police and military operation, alias “Fito”, along with other high-risk prisoners, was transferred from the Guayaquil Regional Jail to the La Roca Penitentiary Center for civilians “as a measure to protect prisoners”. “According to what then President Guillermo Lasso said.

However, after 27 days, Diego Poma, the Judge of the Amnesty Guarantee, decided to reverse the decision and, amid questions and outrage from the previous government, ordered the return of “Fito” to the regional prison in Guayaquil, where he had been detained. He fled, authorities reported this Sunday.

Urgent call to Ecuador’s Security Council

This Sunday, Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, called an emergency meeting of the Public Security Council and state officials to address the security situation after “Fito’s” escape.

After the meeting, the police commander, Cesar Zapata, said the search operation was continuing with the assistance of the armed forces, without giving further details.

“Together with the prosecutor’s office we have been able to verify that so far, this prisoner has not found the place or area he should be, that’s why we will continue in the interior until we find the location of this citizen. “He added. gallop

The Service for Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) reported that on Sunday morning, in coordination with the police and the armed forces, an intervention began in the Guayaquil regional prison for the control and confiscation of weapons and contraband.

According to the police commander, Cesar Zapata, authorities seized weapons, cell phones and connectors for electronic accessories, among other contraband inside the prison.

Who are Los Choneros?

According to Insight Crime, a research center on organized crime in the Americas, the Los Choneros gang, which emerged in the late 1990s in the coastal city of Manabí province, has become the largest in Ecuador.

The gang is linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Colombia’s Oliver Sinistera Front (FOS), and together with both organizations it is dedicated to maritime drug trafficking in Mexico and the United States, but also to micro-drugs. Trafficking, smuggling, extortion and contract killing, with a presence in many cities and penitentiaries in Ecuador.

Some reports indicate that Los Choneros mainly used the Pacific illegal drug route, which passes through Ecuador and concentrates 74% of the cocaine that reaches Central and North America, according to the Independent Network of Investigative Journalists, Organized Crime and Corruption. Reporting Project (OCCRP). ).

But it has been since 2011, when several of their leaders were imprisoned, that Los Choneros has evolved and become a gang with a strong presence in Ecuador’s prison system, according to Insight Crime.

In recent years, Los Choneros have clashed fiercely with their main rivals, Los Lobos, and other smaller gangs in the streets and streets of the country.