The leader of Ecuador's most powerful gang has been placed in a prison considered one of the most secure in the country. The man is accused of having threatened with death the centrist presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was assassinated on Wednesday August 9. To allow the transport of this man considered dangerous, no less than 4,000 police and soldiers were mobilized.
The soldiers and agents, heavily armed, entered at dawn in armored vehicles in the Center of deprivation of liberty number eight of Guayaquil, where was detained since 2011 Adolfo "Fito" Macias, leader of the fearsome criminal gang "Los Choneros". Footage released by security forces on social media shows a portly, bearded man being apprehended by officers with his hands on his head, then on the ground with his hands tied and in his underwear among dozens of other prisoners.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso then announced on X (formerly Twitter) that "Fito" had been transferred to La Roca, a 150-bed maximum security prison located in the same prison complex in Guayaquil. According to authorities, "Fito" and his men controlled at least one prison building where he was previously held.
The name "Fito" has been in the news in Ecuador since the shooting Wednesday of Fernando Villavicencio, 59, a centrist candidate who was in second place in the polls ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for August 20. He claimed last week that the leader of the gang, sentenced to 34 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking, had threatened to kill him.
A former journalist and member of Congress, Mr. Villavicencio had investigated drug trafficking in his country. Six Colombian nationals were arrested in this case, and a seventh was killed in a shootout with the candidate's bodyguards.
Drug gangs are powerful in prisons across the country. More than 430 inmates have died in clashes between rival gangs inside facilities since 2021, with dozens dismembered and their bodies burned. The centrist Construye party announced on Saturday that Mr. Villavicencio's running mate, Andra Gonzalez, will be its presidential candidate.
Ms. Gonzalez, a 36-year-old environmentalist, was a longtime ally of Mr. Villavicencio. She has devoted herself in particular to the defense of the oceans and the mangroves, to the fight against deforestation and the trafficking of wild animals. Ms. Gonzalez's running mate, running for vice president, will be announced at a later date and "he will be chosen from among the most loyal of those who shared the struggles of comrade Fernando Villavicencio," the party said.
