Ecuadorian drug trafficker José Adolfo Macías, alias ‘Fito’, appeared before a New York court on Monday, a few hours after his extradition to the United States.
The leader of the ‘Los Choneros’ gang pleaded "not guilty" to seven counts of drug and arms trafficking before Judge Vera Scanlon of the Brooklyn Court, according to a journalist from French news agency AFP present at the hearing.
'Fito,' the most notorious Ecuadorian drug trafficker, had access to a translator and was accompanied by a lawyer to defend himself against the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The defendant was for years the principal leader of Los Choneros, a transnational criminal organisation known for its violence, and a well-known and ruthless drug and arms trafficker, US Prosecutor Joseph Nocella said in a statement shortly before the hearing.
The defendant and his accomplices flooded the United States and other countries with drugs and resorted to extreme violence in their quest for power, he added.
In April, the US Attorney's Office charged ‘Fito’ with cocaine and arms trafficking. John Durham, a prosecutor in a Brooklyn court, described him as "a ruthless leader and prolific drug trafficker for a violent transnational criminal organisation."
From his cell in a high-security prison in Ecuador, he agreed last week to be extradited to the United States during a video conference hearing. His extradition from Ecuador to New York took place overnight from Sunday to Monday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the Trump administration remained committed to ending drug trafficking and working with regional partners such as Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa to make the region safer and stronger. He welcomed the fact that ‘Fito’ was being brought to justice in the United States.
‘Fito’ had been serving a 34-year sentence since 2011 for organised crime, drug trafficking and murder, but escaped in January 2024 from prison in Guayaquil, southwest Ecuador, before being recaptured in June.
