Colombia arrests wife, daughter of Ecuador drug lord

Colombian police have arrested the wife and daughter of Ecuadorian drug lord Adolfo Macias, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said Sunday.

Macias, known as “Fito,” leads Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian gang with ties to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

De la Espriella said Macias's wife, Inda Mariela Penarrieta Tuarez, and daughter, Michelle Jamileth Macias Penarrieta, were arrested in northeastern Colombia in an operation involving the FBI and Ecuadorian authorities.

The two women are wanted in Ecuador for money laundering. De la Espriella said Ecuadorian authorities were investigating them for using shell companies to launder money for Los Choneros.

“I will gladly send them to my good friend, President Daniel Noboa, so they can answer to Ecuadorian justice,” De la Espriella wrote on X. Noboa replied: “That's how we work, Abelardo: together and with results.”

Macias was captured and extradited to the United States last year after escaping from a prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 2024. He had been serving a 34-year sentence for involvement in organised crime, drug trafficking and murder.

He faces seven charges in a New York court, including drug trafficking and arms trafficking, which carry potential sentences ranging from 20 years in prison to life.