José Adolfo Macías Villamar (‘Fito’) was recently extradited from Ecuador to the US to face sundry charges for leading the notorious ‘Los Choneros’ gang.
‘Los Choneros’ is Ecuador’s largest gang, and Fito is charged with committing international drug and arms trafficking crimes.
If convicted, Fito faces anywhere from 20 years to life in prison.
According to the Justice Department (DOJ), Fito orchestrated numerous smuggling operations illicitly transporting firearms from the US to South America and illegal drugs from South America to the US.
Fito was twice incarcerated by Ecuadorian authorities and twice escaped prison prior to his extradition to the US.
“José ‘Fito’ Macias 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.
Fito’s extradition forms part of President Donald Trump’s broader efforts against transnational criminal gangs.
After taking office, President Trump adopted a maximum-pressure approach to foreign criminal organizations, undermining the US’s national security.
State Secretary Marco Rubio stated Fito’s extradition reflects how the Trump administration is “committed to ending the scourge of narcotrafficking.”
The Trump administration has expanded efforts to counter criminal gangs through ‘Operation Take Back America’: a series of initiatives fostering countercriminal collaboration with allies, stricter law enforcement, harsher punishments for criminals, and similar measures.
Operation Take Back America also included designating various international criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
FTO designation symbolizes a new era in the US’s efforts to combat gangs, which could feature military action.
State Department Secretary Marco Rubio explained that the FTO designation would “protect our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere.”
While the use of military force against cartels is unlikely, FTO designation expands the tools US agencies can leverage to combat criminal organizations.
