Ecuador and Colombia seize Los Choneros member and dismantle cocaine complex

Ecuadorian authorities announced the capture in Colombia of Ronald Macías Villamar, alias “Javi”, brother of Los Choneros leader José Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias “Fito”. After an Interpol red notice, Colombian police detained Javi on 17 June 2026 and began extradition procedures to Ecuador, where he will face money‑laundering charges linked to the gang’s financial network.

A day later, the two countries’ police forces, together with the U.S. DEA, carried out a joint raid—Operation “Binacional III – Cero Impunidad 19633”—in the Potosí area of Colombia’s Nariño department. The strike disabled a clandestine facility capable of processing about three tonnes of cocaine per month, seized 2.35 kg of cocaine, 650 gal of liquid chemicals and 420 kg of solid precursors, and disrupted an estimated $23 million of illicit earnings, preventing roughly 500 000 doses from reaching international markets.