HUNT THE KINGPINS

Military mission to find crime bosses who fled from jail

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

TWO of South America's most notorious crime bosses were last night the targets of a military manhunt after deadly violence erupted following their escape from jails in Ecuador.

AGEN The nation is reeling from a wave of attacks which included armed thugs taking TV hosts hostage live on air.

Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, was sprung on Sunday. Two days later, rival crime boss Fabricio Colón Pico, of the Los Lobos group, escaped from a different prison.

Officials say there have been over 30 attacks by gangs since the breakouts, with at least 10 people dead. President Daniel Noboa has declared a state of emergency. Fito, who was convicted of drug-trafficking and murder, was serving a 36-year sentence.

He escaped in the port city of Guayaquil hours before he was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security facility.

Two guards have been charged in connection with the jailbreak.

He also escaped a prison in 2013 but was caught weeks later.

Then in 2021, his girlfriend Verónica Briones Zambrano was arrested after allegedly spending a week in his cell.

Officers said she was nabbed while in a guard's uniform as she tried to leave the jail during a riot. Fito's rival Colón Pico escaped a prison in the city of Riobamba days after being captured as part of a kidnap probe.