The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Ecuador’s drug trafficker Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar (“Fito”) and his gang Los Choneros.
In 2011, the Government of Ecuador sentenced Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar to 34 years in prison for crimes that included murder and drug trafficking. In January 2024, he escaped from prison leading the government to declare a state of emergency.
Los Choneros is an organized drug cartel based in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, with a notable presence along much of the country’s coastline. Their main business is moving cocaine to the United States.
“Drug trafficking gangs such as Los Choneros, many with ties to powerful drug cartels in Mexico, threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities in Ecuador”
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson
The following individual has been added to OFAC’s SDN List:
MACIAS VILLAMAR, Jose Adolfo (a.k.a. “Fito”), Ecuador; DOB 30 Sep 1979; POB Santa Ana, Manabi, Ecuador; nationality Ecuador; Gender Male.
The following entity has been added to OFAC’s SDN List:
LOS CHONEROS, Ecuador; Criminal Organization.
