Notorious Ecuadorian drug lord ‘Fito’ pleads not guilty in U.S. federal court

José Adolfo Macías, better known as Fito and as the feared leader of the Ecuadorian criminal organization Los Choneros, on Monday was arraigned in federal court in the Eastern District of New York, where he pleaded not guilty to the seven charges brought against him by the U.S. justice system, all related to international drug and arms trafficking. Judge Vera M. Scanlon ordered him held without bail at the Brooklyn Municipal Detention Center, in compliance with the request of the District Attorney’s Office, which considers him a high-risk individual with a history of escape. Fito was flown to the U.S. on Sunday following an extradition deal with Ecuador.

“The defendant and his co-conspirators flooded the United States and other countries with drugs and used extreme measures of violence in their quest for power and control,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said in a statement. Authorities accuse him of having led a network that not only shipped cocaine across the Pacific from Ecuador, but also acquired U.S. weapons to supply hitmen and armed factions in his country.

Fito faces a possible sentence of between 10 and 50 years in prison, following a diplomatic guarantee from Washington to Quito that he would not be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty, conditions demanded by Ecuador to allow his extradition. “José ‘Fito’ Macias Villamar thought he could traffic poison into our country, smuggle American weapons back to his killers, and further his criminal enterprise using chaos and bloodshed. He was wrong,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy. “Today, the kingpin of Los Choneros faces justice on U.S. soil for his crimes.”

Hours after the U.S. Department of Justice plane took off with José Adolfo Macías on board, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa reacted on social media: “Farewell, Fito,” he wrote in a tone of political victory. “Fito is now in the U.S. This is thanks to you, Ecuadorians, who said yes in the referendum,” alluding to the referendum he promoted in April that paved the way for the extradition of nationals wanted by other countries.

For the Noboa administration, the extradition of the leader of Los Choneros represents a political victory in its offensive against organized crime. But not all kingpins can be extradited. “One of the mistakes prior to the referendum was that people believed we could send any dangerous criminal to the United States for the justice system in that country to take charge, but that’s not how it works,” explains attorney Dolores Miño. For an extradition to be granted, several elements must be met, including that the alleged crimes were committed in the territory of the requesting country.

Outsourced justice

Fito’s case is being used as a message of strength by the government, as if justice could be “outsourced” for the most dangerous criminals. But Miño warns that this narrative masks a deeper problem: “When you consider that another justice system is better able to arrest, prosecute, and convict your own criminals, it is clearly a terrible lack of trust in your judicial system.”

Most of the criminal organizations that have sown terror in Ecuador have not operated directly in the United States, so their prosecution remains the responsibility of the Ecuadorian state. The problem is that the institutions charged with doing so are deeply flawed. Almost daily, the Attorney General’s Office opens an investigation against judicial officials for ties to organized crime. Since July 2024, at least 45 judges, 11 prosecutors, and 33 judicial officials have been removed from office for corruption or collusion with organized crime.

Fito is, so far, the biggest piece to fall. But the board is still full.

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