The wife and children of the feared leader of the Ecuadorian Los Choneros gang, Adolfo Macias, alias “
Fito
”, on the run and whose escape triggered a serious security crisis, were arrested in Argentina and deported to Ecuador on Friday, we learned AFP from consistent sources.
Inda Mariela Peñarrieta, 48, and the couple's children, aged 21, 12 and 4, were arrested in Cordoba (center), Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said at a press conference.
According to her, the family of Aldolfo Macias, as well as other members of his "
clan
", had come to settle in an upscale neighborhood of Cordoba on January 5, three days before Fito's escape from a prison in Guayaquil (southwest).
“
We are proud that Argentina is a hostile territory for the installation of a gang of drug traffickers
,” she added.
The minister did not detail the reason why Fito's family had been arrested and expelled, but indicated "
that a decision by the Migration Services suspended their temporary residence, and made their expulsion possible
."
The plane arrived in the morning at the airport of the large port city of Guayaquil (southwest), placed under high surveillance, noted an AFP photographer, while the Argentine authorities for their part broadcast images of this arrival under police escort.
Ecuadorian authorities have so far made no official comment.
“Wanted everywhere”
Escaped on an unknown date from the vast prison complex of Guayaquil, “
Fito is currently wanted everywhere.
At the international level, we have already found his family, (...) who are being taken to Ecuador
,” President Daniel Noboa simply declared in a press interview.
According to the Ecuadorian news site Primicias, Inda Mariela Peñarrieta went from nurse to extremely wealthy businesswoman in six years.
She was investigated in 2020 for money laundering, tax fraud and unjust private enrichment but was not prosecuted.
The prosecution is investigating the impartiality of the three judges in charge of the investigation.
Primicias also claims that Fito's wife, between 2013 and 2019, received $2.1 million in bank deposits but only declared $1.7 million to the local tax authorities.
Still according to the same source, Ms. Peñarrieta, her two brothers and two other members of Fito's family, were prosecuted for organized crime, criminal conspiracy, murder, carrying weapons and theft.
Fito's daughter, Michelle Peñarrieta, whose stage name is "
Queen Michelle
", sings on a "
narcorroccido
" (popular song in honor of drug traffickers) to the glory of her father, who himself also appears in the clip, posted on the YouTube channel and social networks of Los Choneros.
Also read: Ecuador: release of all hostages held by prison mutineers
Still on the run
Fito, who has become the most wanted man in Ecuador, is still on the run.
On Friday, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa considered it “
possible
” that he was in neighboring Colombia and “
asked President (Gustavo) Petro to activate intense searches
”.
The announcement of Fito's escape on January 7 was followed by multiple mutinies in Ecuador's prisons and scenes of violence unleashed in the streets by gangs.
President Noboa declared Ecuador in a state of war and sent more than 20,000 soldiers to restore order.
A vast operation in the Guayaquil penitentiary, launched Thursday by the army with the police, continued on Friday, the army broadcasting images of seized firearms and graffiti and paintings glorifying gangs in train to be covered.
In an interview, Guayaquil Police Commander Victor Herrera warned of possible gang reprisals following the expulsion of Fito's family: "the national police are attentive to any effects that could be produced by this capture and other ongoing actions.