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FORGOTTEN HISTORY: Los choneros | History Defined

Mexico Arrests Alleged Cartel Ringleader 'Lobo Menor' Linked to Killing of Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate

Mexican authorities arrested a man wanted in Colombia and Ecuador for allegedly carrying out the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.

Latin Times

Alleged Leader of Top Ecuadorian Cartel Arrested in Spain After Years on the Run

Ecuadorian officials said Wilmer Geovanny Chavarría Barré had previously faked his death and assumed a new identity to hide in Europe while continuing to direct his criminal network from abroad.

Latin Times

Deadly Riots in Ecuador Prison Leaves More Than 30 Inmates Dead, 27 by Asphyxiation

Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg said inmates across the country have been staging violent uprisings to prevent their transfer to new maximum-security prisons.

Latin Times

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14 Killed As Rival Ecuadoran Inmates Fight With Guns, Explosives

Inmates in Ecuador fought each other with guns and explosives in a riot that left 13 prisoners and a guard dead, police said Monday.

International Business Times

Who Are Los Choneros and Los Lobos, the Ecuador Cartels the U.S. Just Declared Terrorist Groups?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Ecuadorian capital to declare two Ecuadorian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.

Latin Times

Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels' Influence in Ecuador Fuels Wave of Violence, Report Finds

Mexican cartels, particularly the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, have entrenched themselves in Ecuador, partnering with local gangs that have adopted brutal tactics of violence, extortion, and corruption.

Latin Times

Ecuadorian drug lord 'Fito' pleads not guilty after being extradited to New York

The head of a violent Ecuadorian gang has pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges in New York

The Independent UK

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Ecuador's Most Notorious Kingpin 'Fito' Extradited to the U.S. After Months on the Run

Adolfo "Fito" Macías is the first Ecuadorian national to be extradited under a new legal provision approved by referendum in 2023 as part of President Daniel Noboa's broader security reforms

Latin Times

Ecuador’s biggest drug lord ‘Fito’ extradited to US, to plead ‘not guilty’

Adolfo Macias, who was recaptured in June after escaping from prison last year, will appear in New York court on Monday.

Al Jazeera

Video shows ‘underground bunker’ couldn’t save Ecuador’s most wanted drug lord, now facing US extradition

Is he going to the US next?

We Got This Covered

Ecuador reveals how notorious gang leader 'Fito' hid in his hometown for 18 months after jailbreak

Ever since Ecuador’s most notorious gang leader vanished from his prison cell in January 2024, the mystery of his whereabouts has been the buzz of the nation

The Independent UK

Ecuador captures ‘Fito’, country’s most wanted fugitive gang leader

Jose Adolfo Macias, alias ‘Fito’, is due to be extradited to the US on drug trafficking and weapons smuggling charges.

Al Jazeera

Ecuador's Most-wanted Gang Leader 'Fito' Captured

Ecuador's president announced Wednesday that the country's most-wanted fugitive, Los Choneros gang leader "Fito," had been recaptured over a year after his escape from prison triggered a wave of violence.

International Business Times

Notorious gang leader recaptured more than a year after prison escape

Fugitive drug trafficker José Adolfo Macías, also known as Fito, is wanted by authorities in Ecuador and the United States

The Independent UK

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The Independent UK

Fugitive leader of violent Ecuadorian drug gang is indicted in New York City

The fugitive leader of a violent Ecuadorian gang has been indicted in New York City on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States

Latin Times

Argentina Cracks Down on Ecuadorian Drug Gang's Relatives

The wife and three children of "Fito" Macías were in a gated community in the province of Córdoba

The Conversation

How Ecuador went from being Latin America's model of stability to a nation in crisis

Ecuador was until relatively recently seen as one of the safest countries in Latin America.

The Guardian - US

Ecuador’s biggest city ‘a desert’ as state tries to restore order after gang violence

Guayaquil eerily quiet as armed forces patrol in wake of stunning wave of arson, bombings and prison riots that killed as many as 15

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France 24

What we know about 'Fito', Ecuador's notorious gang leader who escaped jail

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of Los Choneros, one of the Ecuadorian gangs considered responsible for a spike in car bombings, kidnappings and slayings, was discovered missing from his prison cell where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking.

The Independent UK

What we know about 'Fito,' Ecuador’s notorious gang leader who went missing from prison

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of one of Ecuador's most dangerous gangs, was discovered missing from his cell in a prison where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking

International Business Times

Streets All But Empty In Ecuador As Gang Attacks Sow Terror

Walking fast, with their eyes alert and voices low, a few Ecuadorans flitted about fearfully Wednesday on city streets all but deserted amid an escalating conflict between the armed forces and violent drug gangs.

The Independent UK

Drugs cartel kingpin, body double and mystery jailbreak: The narco who plunged Ecuador into national emergency

Adolfo Macías Villamar, known as Fito, escaped from prison on 7 January and plunged the country into chaos, Holly Evans writes

Latin Times

Who Are Los Choneros, the Sinaloa Cartel-Affiliated Group at the Center of Ecuador's Narco-Violence?

The South American country is a breeding ground for confrontation between local gangs linked to regional cartels, analysts say

The Guardian - UK

Is Ecuador at war with its armed gangs?

Storming of TV station by gunmen follows gang leader’s escape from prison and declaration of state of emergency

Evening Standard

Is it safe to travel to Ecuador? Prosecutor investigating TV studio attack is murdered

César Suárez was leading the investigation of the attack on Ecuadorian TV station led by gang members

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