QUITO: Ever since Ecuador’s most notorious gang leader vanished from his prison cell in January 2024, authorities have been searching the world, offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito.”

It turned out the country’s most wanted man was hiding out at a family member’s mansion in his own hometown.

Ecuadorian security forces recaptured the kingpin Wednesday at an underground bunker beneath a marble-walled house in the port city of Manta, some 260 kilometers southwest of the capital of Quito.

In remarks to reporters Thursday, authorities revealed further details about their efforts to locate Macias and the hiding place where he spent his final weeks as a fugitive.

Authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for Macias, who was serving a 34-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime and murder in a Guayaquil prison before his shock escape. Macias is also wanted by the United States on accusations of trafficking drugs and smuggling weapons.

A month ago, authorities closed in on the drug trafficker’s family, arresting several of his relatives, seizing their assets and raiding their businesses. Interior Minister John Reimberg described the crackdown on Macias’ family as a “psychological operation” crucial to security forces’ efforts to locate the notorious leader of Ecuador’s “Los Choneros” gang.

“It contributes to a person’s conflict, their loss of control,” he said in a press conference Thursday.

But what put Ecuadorian intelligence on his trail was the unusual behavior of a municipal transit official in Manta, who stopped showing up to work several months ago. Surveilling the official led intelligence services to Macias’ inner circle, according to Victor Ordonez, a national police commander.

Authorities discovered that this official frequented a swanky three-story building equipped with an indoor pool, well-appointed gym and game room and outfitted with gleaming marble floors and walls.

Furniture was wrapped in plastic and flat screen TVs were still in their boxes. All over the house were statues of Saint Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes venerated by Mexican drug traffickers. Los Choneros is believed to have been one of the first from Ecuador to forge ties with Mexican drug cartels.

Ordonez also said that authorities received final confirmation that Macias would be in the house at the time of the 10-hourlong raid from his young daughter.

In the predawn darkness Wednesday, hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and security officers stormed the mansion and blocked off the surrounding streets. But Macias was nowhere to be found.

Security forces flew drones overhead and noticed that the land around the house appeared uneven, with suspiciously altered vegetation that suggested infrastructure and possible ventilation below the surface.

The fugitive was hunkered down in an air-conditioned bunker that could only be accessed through a small hatch, its entrance concealed by a cement and tile floor in the laundry room and openable only from the inside.

Police brought in heavy machinery to start excavating, and when the roof above his head began to cave in Macias recognized that capture was inevitable, Minister Reimberg said. The alternative was being crushed to death.

“When this happened, Fito panicked,” he said. “He opened the hatch where military and police personnel were located and left the hole.”

Within moments, Ecuador’s most powerful drug lord was writhing on the ground with a gun pointed at his head, forced to repeat his full name out loud.

Shirtless and with an unkempt beard, a haggard “Fito” was shepherded outside by a squad of officers and brought to the country’s highest-security prison, known as La Roca, or the Rock, in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city.

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa announced after the capture that the Macias would be extradited to the US to face prosecution. He was indicted in New York City in April on charges of importing and distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine in the US.

“We have done our part,” Reimberg said. “I expect the US extradition request to arrive in the next few hours or at most the next few days.”

BRUSSELS, Belgium: After satisfying Donald Trump’s calls for Europe to ramp up defense spending in NATO, EU leaders in Brussels turned Thursday to the next big challenge ahead: how to seal a trade deal with the US leader.
Time is running out. The European Union has until July 9 to reach a deal or see swingeing tariffs kick in on a majority of goods, unleashing economic pain.
The European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, has been in talks with Washington for weeks, and the leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies France and Germany on Thursday urged Brussels to move fast in search of a deal.
“France is in favor of reaching a quick agreement, we don’t want it to drag on forever,” President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after summit talks involving the bloc’s 27 leaders and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
While Macron said European nations “do not want a deal at any cost,” Germany’s chancellor has signalled he wants to close a deal fast — even if it means an unbalanced outcome with some level of US tariffs on EU goods.
“It’s better to act quickly and simply than slowly and in a highly complicated way,” Friedrich Merz told a press conference after the talks.
The EU has put a zero-percent tariff proposal on the table — but it’s widely seen as a non-starter in talks with Washington.
Von der Leyen said the commission had just received the latest US counterproposal, adding: “We are assessing it as we write, speak right now.”

‘Swiss cheese’ option

According to several diplomats, the goal at this point is rather to let Trump claim victory without agreeing a deal that would significantly hurt Europe.
One diplomat suggested leaders would be happy with a “Swiss cheese” agreement — with a general US levy on European imports, but enough loopholes to shield key sectors such as steel, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and aeronautics.
This would be less painful than the status quo with European companies currently facing 25-percent tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto goods exported to the United States, and 10 percent on a majority of EU products.
Merz had earlier this week taken aim at the EU’s approach to talks as overly complicated, urging “rapid, joint decisions for four or five major industries now.”
The issue was the focus of Thursday’s summit dinner, at which von der Leyen was able to test leaders’ red lines in negotiations.
If no agreement is reached, the default tariff on EU imports is expected to double to 20 percent or even higher — Trump having at one point threatened 50 percent.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday suggested the administration could extend the July deadline but said “that’s a decision for the president to make.”

Avoiding escalation
Unlike Canada or China, which hit back swiftly at Trump’s tariff hikes, the EU has consistently sought to negotiate with the US leader — threatening retaliation only if no agreement is reached.
“We will not allow ourselves to be provoked, we will remain calm,” said Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, urging the EU to avert an all-out trade war with Washington.
Talks between EU and US negotiators have intensified in recent weeks.
Trump divides the Europeans.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are both vocally supportive of Trump — while others are more wary.
“The problem is that on behalf of the United States, we have a heavyweight dealmaker — on our side, European Union, have light capacity and capability leaders to negotiate,” said Orban.
Pro-trade countries in Europe’s north are especially keen to avoid an escalation.
The EU has threatened to slap tariffs on US goods worth around 100 billion euros, including cars and planes, if talks fail to yield an agreement — but has not made any mention of those threats since May.
The United States is also using the negotiations to try to extract concessions on EU rules — particularly digital competition, content and AI regulations, which Washington claims unfairly target American champions such as Apple, Google, and Meta.
Europeans are ready to discuss common transatlantic standards, but the EU’s digital rules are a red line for Brussels.