a powerful criminal gang which is blamed for Ecuador's transformation from a tourist haven to a country with one of the highest murder rates in the region. He is also suspected of having ordered the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023.

Police tracked him down to what they described as an underground bunker below a luxury home in the city of Manta. A police spokesman said no shots were fired in the 10-hour joint operation by police and the military. A large number of officers first monitored and surrounded the three-storey home in the Monterrey neighbourhood of Manta, on the Ecuadorian coast. When they stormed the building, they found a sliding trap door, disguised to look like part of the stone floor, from which metal stairs led to Fito's underground hideout. The "bunker" was fitted out with air conditioning, a bed, a fan and a fridge. (BBC)