Who is 'Fito', the leader of the 'Los Choneros' gang linked to the Sinaloa Cartel that had threatened Villavicencio
Ecuador has decreed a state of emergency in the country after the assassination this Wednesday of the Ecuadorian presidential candidate by the Construye Movement, Fernando Villavicencio. The politician was shot three times in the head during a rally in Quito, the country's capital, which was part of the campaign for the upcoming elections on August 20.
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, has attributed the murder to “organized crime” and has assured that “the full weight of the law will fall on them.”. In this sense, it was Villavicencio himself who denounced just a few days ago having received threats from the criminal group 'Los Choneros', linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Sentenced to more than three decades in prison
The candidate was known for his deep denunciations of the mafias and drug trafficking, and one of his promises was the fight against “criminal structures.” Villavicencio had already declared that he was not afraid of these threats. “Let the hitmen come, here I am,” he had pointed out just one day before the murder.
Villavicencio had mentioned “Fito” in his speeches against criminal organizations, for which he received threats. José Macias Villamar, alias 'Fito', is the leader of the most powerful criminal gang in Ecuador, 'Los Choneros'.
'Fito' is currently in prison. He has been the leader of said gang since 2020, after the murder of Jorge Luis Zambrano González, alias Rasquiña. According to the local newspaper El Universo, he is in custody after being sentenced to 34 years in prison for “organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.”
when was he arrested
'Fito' was born on November 18, 1979 in the city of Manta. His first arrest occurred in 2000 for a crime of robbery and almost a decade later, in 2011, he was arrested again for drug trafficking and organized crime.. He is now serving a sentence in the Guayaquil Litoral Penitentiary, the largest prison in Ecuador, in a maximum security wing.
However, before being sent to this prison, “Fito” was imprisoned in the famous maximum security prison known as La Roca, although he managed to escape along with 17 other prisoners.. A few weeks later he was captured by the Police and transferred to the prison where he is currently.