The prosecutor’s office in Ecuador announced Sunday that it is investigating the alleged escape of Adolfo Macías Villamar, known as “Fito,” the notorious leader of Los Choneros, a gang believed to be responsible for several deadly prison riots in the past few months.
The announcement came hours after the Commander of the Ecuadorian police force, César Zapata, revealed at a press conference that authorities had noticed a missing prisoner at La Regional prison in Guayaquil. He was reticent to give further details about the prisoner or if he had escaped. While a governmental spokesperson confirmed that thousands of officers had been deployed as part of a massive manhunt, further information was being withheld.
Fito has been imprisoned since 2011 after a sentence of 34 years in jail for drug trafficking, organized crime and homicide. In 2020, he became the leader of the Los Choneros prison gang, notorious for drug trafficking and extortion, which wields substantial power and influence across the Ecuadorian prison system despite numerous members being incarcerated. He ascended to the leadership after the murder of the former head, Jorge Luis Zambrano González. He previously escaped custody in 2013, fleeing a maximum security prison alongside 17 other inmates and remaining at large for several months.
Ecuador has experienced increasing violence since 2020, attributed to various factors, including economic instability from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as drug trafficking and the influence of cartels and gangs. A presidential candidate, who was vocal in his condemnation of systemic corruption, was assassinated in August, and the UN voiced concerns about the wave of attacks on justice officials shortly after.
