Leader of violent Ecuadorian drug gang pleads not guilty after being extradited to U.S. José Adolfo "Fito" Macías Villamar escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and was recaptured late June.

QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuadorean gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as "Fito," is set to appear in U.S. federal court on Monday, where he will plead not guilty to international charges of drug and weapons trafficking,

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is “Fito,” escaped from an Ecuadoran prison in January 2024 and was recaptured late last month. In April, a U.S. attorney indicted him in New York City on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States.