Colombian police said Sunday they had captured the wife and daughter of notorious Ecuadorian gang leader José Adolfo Macías Villamar, who was extradited to the United States last year to face drug-trafficking charges.
The two women are wanted in Ecuador on money-laundering allegations. They were arrested in Sabana de Torres, a small town in northeastern Colombia, during an operation supported by the FBI and Ecuadorian authorities, police said.
“Colombia will not be a safe haven for the finances of transnational criminal groups,” Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said in a message posted on X on Sunday.
“I will send these (women) with pleasure to my friend President Daniel Noboa, so that they face Ecuadorian justice,” he added.
Macías Villamar, better known by his nickname “Fito,” escaped from a prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in January 2024.
His escape triggered a state of emergency across Ecuador, followed by deadly prison riots and widespread chaos in Guayaquil. During the unrest, gang members stormed a television station while a live broadcast was underway.
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Macías Villamar was recaptured last year and extradited to the United States, where he has been charged with importing thousands of pounds of cocaine.
The US State Department designated his organization, Los Choneros, as a terrorist group last year.
Even after the capture of powerful criminal leaders such as Macías Villamar and the deployment of troops to patrol some cities, Ecuador continues to struggle with escalating drug-related violence.
The country’s homicide rate has increased fivefold since 2020. Ecuador recorded its highest homicide rate in recent history last year, with 50 killings for every 100,000 residents, according to the Interior Ministry.
Noboa’s campaign against drug-trafficking groups has also drawn criticism from human rights organizations, which have accused the military of abuses, including the killings of four children between the ages of 11 and 15 in 2024.
Despite those setbacks, Noboa won reelection to a four-year term last year as voters increasingly focused on the country’s crime crisis.
