"More will fall, we will take back the country", writes Ecuador's president Daniel Noboa in a post on X.
"Fito" was serving a 34-year prison sentence for, among other things, murder and narcotics trafficking when he mysteriously disappeared from his cell in a security prison in Guayaquil in January 2024. The authorities have not been able to explain how he managed to escape.
A wave of violence broke out in the country in connection with his disappearance. Armed men occupied, among other things, a TV station, while a few hundred prison guards and other personnel were taken hostage.
The unrest led to President Noboa introducing a state of emergency and giving the military the task of cracking down on the criminal gangs.
Macías led the crime syndicate "Los Choneros" which the US has classified as one of the most violent gangs in the region, with links to Mexican drug cartels.
He has previously been prosecuted in New York, accused of having imported thousands of kilograms of cocaine to the US, and President Noboa now states that Ecuador has done its part in the matter of his extradition.
