The National Court of Justice in Ecuador has approved the extradition of a right-hand man of drug trafficker “Fito” to the United States “to be tried for large-scale drug trafficking and use of firearms,” the National Court announced in a statement.
Dario Peñafiel, also known as “Topo,” was arrested in September in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where he is suspected of coordinating illegal mineral extraction. Authorities say “Topo” had ties to a dissident faction of the Colombian guerrilla group FARC and is wanted by a New York tribunal.
According to local media reports, he met Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito,” in detainment at a prison in Guayaquil (southwest). After becoming his right-hand man, he oversaw illegal gold extraction activities on his behalf. “Fito,” considered one of Ecuador’s most powerful drug traffickers at the helm of the criminal group Los Chroneros, was captured in June 2025 after a highly publicized escape and then extradited to the United States as part of President Daniel Noboa’s campaign to fight crime, an ally of the Trump administration.
