Authorities in Ecuador have transferred the leader of a powerful gang accused of threatening a presidential candidate before he was slain to a maximum security prison.
About 4,000 soldiers and police officers were involved in the dawn operation to relocate Adolfo Macias, also known by his alias, “Fito”, on Saturday.
Macias, who is serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, organised crime and homicide, heads the Los Choneros gang.
He was moved out of a jail with lighter security into a 150-person maximum-security prison in the same complex of detention facilities in the port city of Guayaquil.
President Guillermo Lasso said Macias’s relocation was meant for “the safety of citizens and detainees”.
“Ecuador will recover peace and security,” Lasso said in a post on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
“If violent reactions arise, we will act with full force.”
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Source: Aljazeera.com
