Wife and daughter of powerful Ecuadorian drug lord held in the U.S. are captured in Colombia

September 28, 2026 / 11:26 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Colombian police have arrested the wife and daughter of one of Ecuador's most powerful drug lords who was extradited to the United States last year, President Abelardo de la Espriella said Sunday.

Adolfo Macias, alias "Fito," is the leader of Los Choneros, a notorious Ecuadorian gang with ties to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

His wife, Inda Mariela Penarrieta Tuarez, and daughter, Michelle Jamileth Macias Penarrieta, who are wanted in Ecuador for money laundering, were arrested in northeastern Colombia in an operation involving the FBI and Ecuadorian authorities, De la Espriella said.

He said Ecuadorian authorities were investigating the women for "using shell companies to launder the organization's (Los Choneros') money."

"I will gladly send them to my good friend, President Daniel Noboa, so they can answer to Ecuadorian justice," De la Espriella said in a post on X, along with video and images of the arrest.

"Colombia will not be a refuge for the finances of transnational crime," he said.

His Ecuadorian counterpart replied on the same platform: "That's how we work, Abelardo: together and with results."

In January 2024, Macias Villamar was discovered missing from his prison cell in Quito, Ecuador…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/