Colombia Arrests the Wife and Daughter of Ecuador Gang Boss 'Fito' in an FBI-Backed Raid
President Abelardo de la Espriella says the women laundered money for Los Choneros through shell companies and will be sent to Ecuador. Adolfo Macías is awaiting trial in New York.
Colombian police have arrested the wife and daughter of Adolfo Macías, the Ecuadorian gang leader known as "Fito" who is jailed in the United States, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said Sunday.
Inda Mariela Peñarrieta Tuárez and Michelle Jamileth Macías Peñarrieta were detained in northeastern Colombia in an operation that involved the FBI and Ecuadorian authorities. Both are wanted in Ecuador on money laundering charges. De la Espriella said Ecuadorian investigators accuse the two women of "using shell companies to launder the organization's money," a reference to Los Choneros, the gang Macías leads.
"I will gladly send them to my good friend, President Daniel Noboa, so they can answer to Ecuadorian justice," De la Espriella wrote on X, posting video and photos of the arrests. "Colombia will not be a refuge for the finances of transnational crime." Noboa answered on the same platform: "That's how we work, Abelardo: together and with results."
Macías was one of the most wanted men in Latin America. In January 2024 he vanished from his prison cell in Ecuador, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, murder and organized crime. His escape set off a wave of prison riots, kidnappings of guards and attacks across Ecuador, including gunmen storming a live television broadcast, and Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency and an "internal armed conflict" against the gangs. Macías was recaptured and extradited to the United States last year. He faces seven federal charges in New York, including drug trafficking and weapons trafficking, which carry sentences from 20 years to life. He has pleaded not guilty.
Los Choneros has ties to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Washington designated the gang a terrorist organization last year, and Ecuador lists it among 20 criminal groups it has declared terrorist organizations. Ecuador, once one of the safest countries in Latin America, has become a main transit hub for cocaine moving from Colombia and Peru, the world's top producers, to buyers in the United States and Europe. Mexican cartels have partnered with local gangs that fight for control of the country's ports and shipping lanes.
The arrests mark the latest blow against the gang's leadership and finances. One of its top lieutenants, Darío Peñafiel, known as "Topo," was arrested last September in Ecuador's Amazon region, where authorities believed he was directing illegal mining. Prosecutors in Ecuador and the U.S. have increasingly targeted the money behind the gangs, from front companies to illegal gold, arguing that cutting off cash is as important as capturing their leaders.
The case also shows how closely the new Colombian government is working with Quito and Washington. De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer who took office in August, campaigned on a hard line against armed groups and drug traffickers. His government has also just sent the Colombian rebel commander known as "The Spider" to California to face U.S. terrorism charges.
