Who Is ‘Fito,’ the Missing Cartel Leader Who Sent Ecuador Into Chaos?

Adolfo ‘Fito’ Macías, Ecuador’s “most notorious criminal” and leader of the powerful Los Choneros drug cartel, vanished Sunday from his prison cell—just hours before he was slated to be transferred to a high-security facility.

Macías’ disappearance and ensuing violence from his men has thrown Ecuador, which has been plagued by kidnappings and gang violence in recent years, into chaos that its president has described as full-out “war.”

Macías, who assumed power of the Los Choneros cartel after its previous leader was murdered in 2020, was scheduled to be transported to a max-security prison Sunday where his men held no control. But, with eyes and ears scattered throughout the Ecuadorian government and national police, authorities say he was tipped off to the scheduled move and evaded authorities and has been missing ever since.

Read more at The Daily Beast.