In brief
The brother of notorious drug kingpin Adolfo Macías was shot dead Sunday by men who disguised themselves as police. Police say David Macías was a senior figure in the Los Choneros gang, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the U.S. The attack took place in the early hours at a rented home in the upscale town of Olón on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. Witnesses reported the gunmen entered the property wearing balaclavas and fled immediately, leaving no suspects under arrest. The killing adds to a series of high‑profile gang strikes in the region, following the recent arrest of Adolfo Macías in the United States and the shooting of another gang leader outside an international airport. Los Choneros has long been blamed for Ecuador’s soaring murder toll. Authorities are investigating whether this was an internal revenge snub or a plot by rival criminal outfits.
The brother of the most notorious Ecuadorian drug lord was killed Sunday by gunmen who had disguised themselves as police officers. The victim, 35‑year‑old David Macías, had been a regional leader in the crime syndicate Los Choneros, which has recently been classified by the United States as a foreign terrorist unit.
Authorities say Macías was shot early in the morning while living in an upscale neighbourhood of the coastal town Olón. Witnesses reported that men wearing police gear entered the rented apartment, shot the man, then quickly fled the area. So far no suspects have been detained.
The killings fit a pattern of violence associated with gang conflict in the region, and similar attacks have been reported over the past months, including the shooting of a rival leader near Guayaquil’s international airport and an assault on another gang chief in Colombia.
Police investigators are probing whether the attack was an internal dispute within Los Choneros or an operation carried out by competing criminal networks. The death of the Macías brother adds to the mounting pressure on the local authorities to curb the escalating murder rate connected to the drug trade.
