Relatives of drug trafficker José Adolfo “Fito” Macías Salazar, head of the Los Choneros gang, were arrested tonight during a mega police operation a few kilometers from the capital Córdoba.
The calm of the mountain night was invaded by helicopters and a large police deployment in the country Villa del Golf de Malagueñolocated meters from the Córdoba-Villa Carlos Paz highway.
🔴 #NOW | Relatives of Ecuadorian drug trafficker Fito Macía were arrested in Córdoba
• They rented a house in a renowned Cordoba country. Among those detained are the drug trafficker’s wife and three children.
• The drug fugitive was one of the causes of the chaos in Ecuador… pic.twitter.com/AaCzu10lxr
— Córdoba Profile (@perfilcordoba) January 19, 2024
“Fito” and “El Salvaje”, who are the fugitive drug trafficking leaders who terrorize Ecuador
This intense search in the gated community sought to detain the wife, three children and other close friends to the man who escaped last Monday from a prison in Guayaquil, where he was serving sentences for drug trafficking and multiple murders in Ecuador.
The operation that included elite corps of the Córdoba Police, air support and national forces ordered by Interpol with the knowledge of the Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich managed to arrest, on the outskirts of the city of Córdoba, eight relatives and direct assistants of the drug lord
The investigation by the Anti-Drug Police Force (FPA) and Chief Commissioner Alberto Bietti, Director of Criminal Intelligence of the Córdoba Police, was able to confirm the suspicion of Ecuadorian people renting a high-class house and paying with dollar bills in Valle del Golf. The task included the participation of plainclothes agents working in the country and wiretapping, as part of the monitoring. The provincial minister, Juan Pablo Quinteros, closely followed everything that happened in the operation.
What was the crime of César Suárez, the prosecutor who investigated the attack on a TV channel in Ecuador?
Among those detained is Inda Mariela Peñarrieta Tuarez, Macías’s wife, who would have entered the country about 10 days before Fito’s escape from the Ecuadorian prison.
“Given the entry of criminals into the facilities of a media outlet, our specialized units are deployed on site to deal with this emergency,” the Police published on their X account.
They still do not rule out that Macías is in the province, although some Colombian intelligence sources suspect that he is heading to Peru.
The detainees will be taken to Buenos Aires and will be immediately deported to Ecuador. The details about this procedure will be offered this Friday by Bullrich herself and by Quinteros, who will give details at a press conference.
Macías’s wife is being linked to the alleged murder of prosecutor César Suárez, who investigates the takeover of the television channel and a large number of cases against Los Choneros, the organization led by Fito Macías.
A busy night in Carlos Paz and surrounding areas
The presence of the police helicopter and the continuous movement of police vehicles changed the Thursday routine in Villa Carlos Paz.
During the last few days, other neighbors had already noticed and reported strange movements in the public spaces of the place. “Fito” has been intensely wanted internationally for a few days and would be the leader of one of the largest criminal gangs in the country with alleged links to Mexican cartels.