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

QUITO, Ecuador — Ever since Ecuador's most notorious gang leader vanished from his prison cell in January 2024, authorities have been searching the world, offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Adolfo Macías, alias ''Fito."

It turned out the country's most wanted man was hiding out at a family member's mansion in his own hometown.

Ecuadorian security forces recaptured the kingpin Wednesday at an underground bunker beneath a marble-walled house in the port city of Manta, some 260 kilometers (161 miles) southwest of the capital of Quito.

In a remarks to reporters Thursday, authorities revealed further details about their efforts to locate Macías and the hiding place where he spent his final weeks as a fugitive.

Authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for Macías, who was serving a 34-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime and murder in a Guayaquil prison before his shock escape. Macías is also wanted by the United States on accusations of trafficking drugs and smuggling weapons.

A month ago, authorities closed in on the drug trafficker's family, arresting several of his relatives, seizing their assets and raiding their businesses. Interior Minister John Reimberg described the crackdown on Macías' family as a ''psychological operation'' crucial to security forces' efforts to locate the notorious leader of Ecuador's ''Los Choneros" gang.

''It contributes to a person's conflict, their loss of control,'' he said in a press conference Thursday.

But what put Ecuadorian intelligence on his trail was the unusual behavior of a municipal transit official in Manta, who stopped showing up to work several months ago. Surveilling the official led intelligence services to Macías' inner circle, according to Víctor Ordóñez, a national police commander.

Authorities discovered that this official frequented a swanky three-story building equipped with an indoor pool, well-appointed gym and game room and outfitted with gleaming marble floors and walls.

Furniture was wrapped in plastic and flat screen TVs were still in their boxes. All over the house were statues of Saint Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes venerated by Mexican drug traffickers. Los Choneros is believed to have been one of the first from Ecuador to forge ties with Mexican drug cartels.

Ordóñez also said that authorities received final confirmation that Macías would be in the house at the time of the 10-hourlong raid from his young daughter.

In the predawn darkness Wednesday, hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and security officers stormed the mansion and blocked off the surrounding streets. But Macías was nowhere to be found.

Security forces flew drones overhead and noticed that the land around the house appeared uneven, with suspiciously altered vegetation that suggested infrastructure and possible ventilation below the surface.

The fugitive was hunkered down in an air-conditioned bunker that could only be accessed through a small hatch, its entrance concealed by a cement and tile floor in the laundry room and openable only from the inside.

Police brought in heavy machinery to start excavating, and when the roof above his head began to cave in Macías recognized that capture was inevitable, Minister Reimberg said. The alternative was being crushed to death.

''When this happened, Fito panicked,'' he said. ''He opened the hatch where military and police personnel were located and left the hole.''

Within moments, Ecuador's most powerful drug lord was writhing on the ground with a gun pointed at his head, forced to repeat his full name out loud.

Shirtless and with an unkempt beard, a haggard ''Fito'' was shepherded outside by a squad of officers and brought to the country's highest-security prison, known as La Roca, or the Rock, in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city.

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa announced after the capture that the Macías would be extradited to the U.S. to face prosecution. He was indicted in New York City in April on charges of importing and distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine in the U.S.

''We have done our part,'' Reimberg said. ''I expect the U.S. extradition request to arrive in the next few hours or at most the next few days."