Ecuadorian gang leader Adolfo Macías Villamar, known as "Fito", has been extradited to the U.S. to face charges of drug and arms trafficking. He will appear in a Brooklyn federal court on Monday, where he is expected to plead not guilty, according to his lawyer.Fito, leader of the Los Choneros gang, was recaptured in June after escaping from a high-security prison last year, where he was serving a 34-year sentence. His gang has ties to powerful criminal groups in Mexico and the Balkans and is linked to Ecuador's soaring crime rate and the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.Over 70% of the world’s cocaine now passes through Ecuador, positioned between Colombia and Peru. Fito was caught hiding in an underground bunker in Manta and later transferred to La Roca, a maximum-security facility.

His extradition follows a national referendum approving the handover of Ecuadorian citizens to foreign countries, part of President Daniel Noboa’s aggressive anti-crime campaign.