The head of a violent Ecuadorian gang accused of smuggling cocaine and firearms between South America and the U.S. pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges Monday in New York.
José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is “Fito,” appeared in federal court in Brooklyn a day after Ecuador extradited him to the U.S. A judge ordered him detained until trial and set his next court date for Sept. 19.
U.S. prosecutors accuse Macías of leading the vicious Los Choneros gang that used hitmen, bribes and military weapons, including machine guns and grenades. The hitmen, or sicarios, murdered, tortured and kidnapped people in Ecuador as the gang committed violence against law enforcement, politicians, attorneys, prosecutors and civilians, authorities said.
Los Choneros also worked with Mexican drug cartels to ship cocaine from Colombian suppliers through Ecuador and Central America to the U.S., and shipped firearms from the U.S. to South America,