Bogotá, Colombia

Colombian police have arrested the wife and daughter of one of Ecuador's most powerful drug lords who was extradited to the United States last year, President Abelardo de la Espriella said Sunday.

Adolfo Macias, alias "Fito," is the leader of Los Choneros, a notorious Ecuadorian gang with ties to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

His wife Inda Mariela Penarrieta Tuarez and daughter Michelle Jamileth Macias Penarrieta, who are wanted in Ecuador for money laundering, were arrested in northeastern Colombia in an operation involving the FBI and Ecuadorian authorities, De la Espriella said.

He said Ecuadorian authorities were investigating the women for "using shell companies to launder the organization's (Los Choneros') money."

"I will gladly send them to my good friend, President Daniel Noboa, so they can answer to Ecuadorian justice," De la Espriella said in a post on X.

"That's how we work, Abelardo: together and with results," his Ecuadorian counterpart replied on the same platform.

Macias was captured and extradited to the US last year, after escaping from a prison in Ecuador's port city of Guayaquil in 2024.

He had been serving a 34-year sentence for involvement in organized crime, drug trafficking and murder.

He faces seven charges in a New York court, including drug trafficking and arms trafficking, which carry sentences ranging from 20 years in prison to life.

The US designated Los Choneros as a terrorist organization last year.

Ecuador, once one of Latin America's safest countries, has become a key cocaine transit hub between top producers Colombia and Peru, and consumers around the world.

Mexican cartels have forged alliances with local gangs, including Los Choneros, who battle for the control of ports and shipping routes.

sp/jm/lkd/mjw