Where is Fito? Ecuador’s notorious drug lord who escaped the prison in which he lived like a king
In his prison cell, drug lord Adolfo ‘Fito’ Macias lived like a king. Then one day, he vanished.
A state of emergency in Ecuador was declared after his escape from prison, and the government battled to regain control of the country’s jails from gangs.
President Daniel Noboa has vowed to eradicate violence and restore order, but three months on his forces have yet to recapture Macias, 44, the leader of the notorious Los Choneros gang.
Fito was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder. His escape in January occurred on the day he was scheduled to be moved from La Regional prison to a maximum security facility.
Fito is one of Ecuador’s most wanted criminals. Pic: AP
Despite being behind bars, he was able to continue to direct the activities of Los Choneros. He also enjoyed access to mobile phones and the internet, watched TV and kept pets.
“His prison cell basically resembled a hotel room,” says Annette Idler, a professor of global security at the University of Oxford. “He had access to women who were brought to him,” she adds. “It was a luxury room for him.”
Colourful murals of the gang leader were even daubed across the walls, including one of him flanked by two assault rifles.
Music video glorification
Fito also managed to star in a professionally produced music video, parts of which were filmed inside his prison, exalting the drugs kingpin as “el jefe y patron” – the boss.
There has been no explanation from authorities about how a film crew was able to gain access to one of Ecuador’s most notorious criminals. Meanwhile, El Corrido del Leon – the Lion’s Ballad – has racked up nearly 900,000 views on YouTube.
The watchtower overlooking the Zonal 8 prison, from where Fito escaped. Pic: Reuters
“It was glorifying him as this good and honest guy – how does that happen?”, says John Murdy, a University of Chicago PhD student who has spent years researching Ecuador’s prisons. “Fito is unique.”
This was only possible, Prof Idler says, because of corruption in the Ecuadorian prison system, with prison guards severely outnumbered and under pressure.
The choice between silver and lead
“It’s something that resembles Pablo Escobar – the choice between silver and lead. Either they receive a bribe or they’re just shot.”
Those same words are emblazoned on the prison wall mural of Fito – ‘plata’ (silver) and ‘plomo’ (lead).
Prison guards faced with overcrowded jails and not enough support are vulnerable to this kind of pressure from the gangs, who can find out where their families live, and often end up on their payroll.
A soldier guards inmates at Litoral Penitentiary. Pic: AP
Unable to fully control their prisons, authorities resorted to sorting new inmates by their gang affiliation.
“In effect the Ecuadorian state is giving prison wings over to gangs, which means they are able to consolidate their power and have a base of operations,” Murdy says. They can then collect weapons like machine guns, machetes and bombs, he adds.
Los Choneros, led by Fito, is one of the gangs authorities hold responsible for a spike in violence that reached new highs last year with the assassination of the presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio.
Soldiers carry out a search near the prison following Fito’s escape. Pic: Reuters
When Fito escaped La Regional prison on 7 January – his second jailbreak – the news spread around the world.
Roberto Izurieta, press secretary for the president, said “most likely” there was a leak of information that led to Fito’s escape. He said the gang chief was tipped off “a matter of hours” before he disappeared.
Embarrassment for president
“It was a real egg-on-the-face moment for the new president,” says Murdy. “Somehow Fito learned about this very high level security intervention and was able to escape without a gunshot fired.”
But should it have come as such a shock? After all, he was not being held in a high security prison.
Prof Idler adds: “In a way it was not much of a surprise… because we know Fito had lots of control.”
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Sky News gains rare access to a prison in Ecuador
Three months later, Fito is still at large.
“On the one hand, it’s surprising because Ecuador is working with the US and Colombia, who have good intelligence services – this should help in finding him.”
‘Endemic corruption’
But Prof Idler added that the “endemic corruption” in Ecuador means that it may be difficult to track him down.
“It’s not clear where he actually went,” she says. “Given that these criminal organisations operate across borders it’s also quite likely that he is very well protected through his network, not just inside Ecuador but also in the wider region.”
There was speculation that he might head to Argentina, where he had moved his wife and children. But they were deported back to Ecuador a couple of weeks after Fito’s escape.
Was Fito tipped off by someone inside Ecuador’s security apparatus? Pic: Reuters
Amid suspicion that he might instead seek to pass through Peru to reach Bolivia, the Peruvian government strengthened security along its border.
Prof Idler adds: “The authorities’ eyes are on him, but it’s definitely plausible that he’s still somewhere in the region hiding.”
It remains to be seen when, or if, Fito will be hunted down. And even if he’s recaptured and put back in prison, what then? Fito has already escaped prison twice, could he do it again?
At least 11 people have been killed and 63 injured in an Israeli strike on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dug through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
State-run National News Agency (NNA) said the attack “completely destroyed” an eight-storey residential building in the Basta neighbourhood early on Saturday.
Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station also showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack – the fourth targeting the centre this week.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack, security sources told Reuters news agency.
The blasts happened at about 4am (2am UK time).
A seperate drone strike in the southern port cuty of Tyre this morning killed one person and injured another, according to the NNA.
The blasts came after a day of bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
World
Vladimir Putin vows to increase production of Russia’s ‘unstoppable’ missile – as NATO and Ukraine to hold talks
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile.
In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin said the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was used in an attack on Ukrainian city Dnipro in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.
Referring to the Oreshnik, the Russian president said: “No one in the world has such weapons.
“Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”
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He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”
Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.
General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads – while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.
Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”
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Testing the Oreshnik will happen “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia“, the president added, stating there is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.
NATO and Ukraine are expected to hold emergency talks on Tuesday.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened following the strike on Dnipro, a central city with a population of around one million. No fatalities were reported.
EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous attacks’
Numerous EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the conflict with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the war is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.
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Speaking in Kyiv, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky called Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.
At a news conference, Mr Lipavsky gave his full support for delivering the additional air defence systems needed to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks”.
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