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Trump asks Supreme Court to suspend transgender medical care in federal prisons

2026-09-28T16:03:54.177Z / CNN

By John Fritze

PUBLISHED Sep 28, 2026, 12:03 PM ET

The US Supreme Court, pictured in May.

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

President Donald Trump’s administration urged the Supreme Court on Monday to allow federal prison officials to deny certain types of medical care for transgender inmates, such as surgeries – putting another culture war issue on the high court’s burgeoning fast-track docket.

The Bureau of Prisons policy that began early in Trump’s second term – and that was modified after an early round of court battles – permits psychotherapy and psychiatry services for inmates with gender dysphoria, but not hormone therapies, surgeries or “social accommodations.”

The appeal reached the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court at a time when LGBTQ Americans have faced a series of legal setbacks, including back-to-back decisions in recent years that have allowed states to ban transgender care for minors and permitted states to prohibit transgender athletes from playing on girls’ sports teams in school.

Trump made clamping down on legal victories secured by transgender Americans a centerpiece of his presidential campaign in 2024, and his administration, with the Supreme Court’s help, has moved to ban trans people from serving in the military and to require that sex designation on US passports align with a traveler’s biological sex.

“The public interest substantially outweighs any irreparable harm to respondents,” the Justice Department told the Supreme Court in its emergency appeal. “The 2026 policy provides appropriate, individualized treatment for gender dysphoria, while disallowing only interventions that are medically unnecessary.”

In a series of rulings this year, a US district court and a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, blocked the Trump policy from taking effect in the short term. In a brief order earlier this month, the DC Circuit concluded that the administration’s policy was likely arbitrary and capricious because the Bureau of Prisons had not “adequately” considered “its own experience providing gender affirming care under its prior policy.”

The rush appeal, which the court will likely decide within a few weeks, was the latest in a deluge of emergency litigation the administration has filed at the Supreme Court in recent weeks. The justices are already considering a high-profile appeal seeking to remove migrants to countries other than their homeland without giving them an opportunity to raise human rights concerns.

Over the summer the court weighed Trump-related cases dealing with mail ballots, the White House ballroom and efforts to identify non-citizen voters.

Protester storms DC party, flips off crowd as ‘USA!’ chants erupt amid Trump’s AI push

September 28, 2026 2:41pm EDT / Fox News

The disruption came as Trump pushes to accelerate America’s AI and data center boom to stay ahead of China

By Ashley J. DiMella

A protestor crashed a pro-data center party in Washington, D.C. claiming the technology is “killing the world.”

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Protesters crashed a large pro-data center party in Washington, D.C., making obscene guestures attendees and shouting about the industry’s water use as President Donald Trump pushes to accelerate America’s artificial intelligence and data center boom.

“Thank you for using all of our water!” and “You’re killing the world,” the protester shouted as a woman interrupted the party, directing middle fingers at the crowd while chanting against the data center industry.

The “Data After Dark” party was hosted by three self-proclaimed data center “fanboys,” bringing together more than 600 people to show support for data center infrastructure.

FIRST ON FOX: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST NETWORK BEHIND FIGHT AGAINST AI DATA CENTERS AND FLOCK CAMERAS

Protestors crash a pro-data center party in Washington, D.C.(Liberty Seeds)

Party co-host and Young Voices CEO Casey Givens told Fox News Digital that one protester initially approached him asking to give a toast in support of data centers, but after he refused, she jumped onstage and attempted to grab the microphone from co-host Jonas Du.

After the protester was removed by security, the crowd responded by chanting, “USA, USA, USA.”

Data centers power artificial intelligence by housing thousands of high-performance computers that store, process and analyze data, enabling AI systems to be trained and operate.

INSIDE THE FAR-LEFT’S ANTI-DATA CENTER PUSH AND WHAT EXPERTS SAY IS DRIVING IT: ‘PLAYBOOK WE’VE SEEN BEFORE’

Protestors crash a pro-data center party in Washington, D.C.(Alan Shindelman/@shindelverse)

“I organized the party along with my co-hosts because the three of us were dismayed by how one side was dominating the data center conversation with hysteria instead of reason,” said Givens.

“We wanted to push back by throwing a celebration of technology and benefits of data centers — locally in terms of tax revenue and economic development, and nationally in terms of innovation and the fight against China,” Givens added.

The party featured themed cocktails such as “Loudoun County Iced Tea,” named after the Northern Virginia county that handles more than 70% of global internet traffic across roughly 250 data centers, according to the county’s website.

CHINA ‘THROWING GASOLINE ON THE FIRE’ IN AI DATA CENTERS RACE, SAY LAWMAKERS

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Demonstrators protest against AI and data centers as they march on the campus of the University of North Carolina toward the site of the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Sept. 2, 2026. They carry signs branded with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a pro-China communist group.(Matt Ramey/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has pushed for a rapid buildout of data centers as part of his broader AI agenda, contending the U.S. must stay ahead of China in the global AI race and that resistance to the projects gives Beijing an advantage.

“If you want to go through poverty, crime and squalor, I would say don’t approve of data centers,” Trump said from the Oval Office Sept. 4.

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Trump boasted about American AI supremacy over China during an address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Tuesday, using his newly-minted term for the technology, “superintelligence.”

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“Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception,” said Trump. “Whoever wins superintelligence wins. That’s the group that wins. And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. And we’re going to keep it that way.”

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Trump administration rolls back Biden-era fuel economy standards

September 28, 2026 / 2:30 PM EDT / CBS News

The Trump administration unveiled new fuel economy standards on Monday, rolling back Biden-era rules aimed at cutting down emissions and encouraging more consumers to switch to electric vehicles.

Established by Congress in 1975, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards dictate how many miles vehicles must be able to drive on a gallon of fuel, with specific standards for light-duty vehicles, as well as medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Over time, automakers have gradually improved their vehicles’ average fuel efficiency.

Under the new Trump administration rule, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the new standards will lead to a fleetwide average of 34.9 miles per gallon by model year 2031 — down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.

In a statement Monday, the Department of Transportation said the new rules will lower the average upfront cost of new vehicles by $1,300 and give automakers more choice regarding the types of cars they manufacture.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we have finally ended the illegal mandate that forced automakers to produce more expensive electric vehicles that American families didn’t want,” Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement on Monday.

The Department of Transportation said the rule will help save Americans $138 billion over the next five years. However, it comes at a time when drivers are spending significantly more money at the pump as the war with Iran disrupts the global flow of fuel. Gasoline prices averaged $4.47 on Monday, according to the AAA, up from $2.98 a gallon before the war.

Trump open to Iran sanctions relief for ‘concrete progress’ on nuclear issues, US official says

2026-09-28T16:24:16.118Z / CNN

By Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene

Updated Sep 28, 2026, 1:33 PM ET

PUBLISHED Sep 28, 2026, 12:24 PM ET

A satellite view shows an overview of the Natanz nuclear facility near Natanz, Iran, on June 30.

Vantor/Reuters

President Donald Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds as part of a final deal, but only if Tehran offers “concrete progress” on the nuclear issue, a US official told CNN Monday, as mediators try to bring both countries back to the negotiating table.

The United States is having “positive and constructive discussions through the mediators,” the official said, though they noted that there will not be a deal unless nuclear issues are addressed. Trump on Saturday rejected Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, calling it “unacceptable.”

On Sunday, Trump told Axios that he expects more talks with Iran to occur this week. The official said that special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leading the talks on the US side.

“They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make,” the president said. “It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand.”

According to the official, Iran has indicated they are flexible on nuclear issues — but both sides have not reached an agreement on the timing of the commitments.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that Trump rejected the proposal because he did not believe Iran was negotiating in good faith, arguing that it was unacceptable that Tehran was “asking for everything up front.”

“The bottom line is they were asking for everything up front with a promise that they would then talk,” Waltz said on “State of the Union.”

Waltz later told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “it’s kind of common sense” Trump doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the Iranian proposal. He dismissed Tehran’s latest offer as “a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable.”

The US official reiterated Waltz’s assertion that the United States is skeptical of Iran’s promises, given the country violated the US-Iran memorandum of understanding reached in July by firing on commercial vessels.

This story has been updated with additional context.

US Supreme Court’s Alito won’t participate in climate case involving oil companies

2026-09-28 17:54:26 UTC / Reuters

By John Kruzel

September 28, 2026 5:54 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito attends an event organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, in Rome, Italy, September 20, 2025. REUTERS/Vincenzo Livieri/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will not participate in ​an upcoming case involving a bid by oil companies to scuttle ‌a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for helping fuel climate change, a court official said on Monday.

Alito owns stock in several oil and gas companies but not Exxon ​Mobil and Suncor Energy, the two companies involved in the dispute to ​be heard by the court on October 5. He had ⁠initially declined calls from watchdog and environmental groups to recuse. Alito stepped aside ​when the litigation reached the court at an earlier stage in 2023.

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Alito is ​one of the most conservative justices on the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority.

Lawyers for the oil companies and those representing officials in Boulder, Colorado, who sued Exxon and ​Suncor in 2018, were informed on Monday of Alito’s recusal in a ​letter from Scott Harris, clerk of the Supreme Court.

Harris did not provide a rationale, stating ‌only, “I am ⁠writing to inform the parties that Justice Alito has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case.”

The dispute, which will be heard on the first day of the court’s new term, could determine the fate ​of dozens of state ​and local climate-related ⁠lawsuits against fossil fuel companies.

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According to his most recent financial disclosure, Alito’s holdings include stock in ConocoPhillips and Phillips ​66, which are defendants in separate but similar climate-related lawsuits.

The ​upcoming Supreme ⁠Court case involves whether federal law precludes certain claims under state law seeking damages for harms allegedly caused by the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. The justices ⁠also ​directed the parties to address whether the court ​has jurisdiction to decide the case at this stage.

President Donald Trump’s administration has backed Exxon and Suncor, arguing ​that federal law precludes Boulder’s claims.

Adds details on Alito disclosure forms and case background in paragraphs 7-9

Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Top FBI official Andrew Bailey, who was once widely seen as Patel successor, resigns

2026-09-28 1:00 PM EDT / CBS News

By

Andrew Bailey, FBI co-deputy director who was once widely viewed as a potential successor to FBI Director Kash Patel, is resigning, he announced Monday.

His resignation takes effect Oct. 2, multiple sources said. In an email to agents Monday morning and a post on X about his resignation, Bailey cited family reasons. In an X post, Patel thanked Bailey for “his fantastic contribution instituting critical reforms.”

Bailey was previously the Missouri attorney general who was brought in to help ease reported tensions between former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. He was elevated to co-deputy, a position that had always been filled by a career staffer. It marked the first time that the job was split between two people.

From the outset, Bailey’s relationship with Patel was troubled. Initially, Bailey was not invited to meetings, according to two sources familiar with their dynamic, with one adding that Patel instructed staff to refer to him as director, to Bongino as deputy director and Bailey as co-deputy director.

The sources added that Patel consistently kept Bailey at arm’s length and cut him out of meetings the deputy FBI director should attend because Bailey was constantly flagging things that were unconstitutional.

Bongino left the FBI in January. There is still another FBI co-deputy, Chris Raia, who was formerly the assistant director in charge of the bureau’s New York City Field Office.

Bailey’s resignation comes shortly after two agents who oversaw counterterrorism at the Washington Field Office were demoted after White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller and his wife, Katie Miller, complained that the FBI was not doing enough to investigate alleged threats against them.

Stephen and Katie Miller didn’t request that anyone be fired over the handling of threats against Katie Miller, but FBI officials chose to reassign some FBI personnel, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Last fall, the Millers moved into military housing after a local activist protested Trump administration policies outside their home and encouraged protesters to call for a congressional investigation into Stephen Miller. NBC News first reported Bailey’s resignation.

Asked for comment, the White House pointed to Patel’s X post.

Sara Cook and Julia Kimani Burnham contributed to this report.

One of Kash Patel’s deputies resigns from the FBI

2026-09-28T17:41:00.763Z / CNN

By Josh Campbell

2 hr ago

PUBLISHED Sep 28, 2026, 1:41 PM ET

Andrew Bailey speaks during a press conference at the St. Louis FBI office on May 26.

David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Getty Images/File

Andrew Bailey, a senior FBI official and former Republican politician, told the agency’s workforce early Monday that he is resigning to spend more time with his family, two sources familiar told CNN.

Bailey served as Missouri’s attorney general before being hired by the FBI last year in an unusual move to serve as a newly created “co-deputy” to Director Kash Patel. He was brought on to split the FBI’s deputy director role with since-departed conservative podcaster Dan Bongino during a rift between Bongino and former Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of files pertaining to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It was widely speculated within the FBI that Bailey, whose focus at the bureau included election security issues, would eventually be asked to take the reins from Patel — a development that never materialized.

Bongino resigned earlier this year and returned to his podcasting career. He was replaced by a career senior FBI agent, although the “co-deputy director” model that included Bailey continued.

The position of FBI deputy director was historically filled by one career FBI agent who managed the day-to-day operations of the workforce of 38,000 people. It is unclear whether the agency will return to that precedent.

Related article Assistant Director in Charge of the NY Field Office of the FBI Christopher Raia speaks as FBI Director Kash Patel listens during a press conference on October 23, 2025 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images FBI picks career agent to replace Dan Bongino as deputy director 2 min read

In a social media post Monday confirming his departure from the agency, Bailey touted the delivery under his tenure of “historic results in our mission to Make America Safe Again” and said he would return to his family in Missouri.

As CNN previously reported, Bailey was originally under consideration to lead the FBI before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. He interviewed for the job with Trump in 2024 at Mar-a-Lago around the same time as Patel. Ultimately, Trump wasn’t impressed with the Missouri official, CNN reported, and said Bailey did not fit the mold of the legal bulldog the president-elect wanted to helm the FBI.

One source familiar with Bailey’s departure said relations between Patel and Bailey had quickly cooled shortly after his arrival at the agency last year and the two men were not close.

But in the announcement announcing his resignation, Bailey said he was “confident Director Patel will continue to reform the FBI, combat violent crime” and to “defend the homeland.”

Patel responded to Bailey’s announcement on social media by thanking him for his service and for fulfilling the Trump administration’s mandates.

CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

Alito recuses from major climate change case to be decided by the Supreme Court

September 28, 2026 / 3:35 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington— Justice Samuel Alito will no longer participate in a major climate change case involving two large energy companies, according to a letter from the Supreme Court that was sent Monday.

The one-line letter signed by Scott Harris, the Supreme Court’s clerk, and sent to the lawyers involved in the dispute states that Alito “has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case.” No reason for Alito’s decision to sit out was provided, but it is likely because the justice has stock holdings in oil and gas companies, according to his financial disclosure report for 2025.

Alito’s decision to recuse himself comes one week before the Supreme Court will begin its new term with arguments in the dispute between Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil and Boulder, Colorado.

The city and county of Boulder sued the two companies in Colorado state court in 2018, arguing that their conduct contributed to global climate change. The city and county say Exxon Mobil and Suncor engaged in “unchecked production, promotion, refining, marketing and sale of fossil fuels,” and concealed or misrepresented the dangers associated with fossil fuels’ intended use, leading to “unchecked fossil fuel use” that has led to a rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

That increased concentration of greenhouse gases has, in turn, led to a warming of the atmosphere and oceans, causing extreme heat, larger and more frequent wildfires and changes to the broader ecosystem, Boulder says. The city and county, which are seeking billions of dollars in damages, allege that because of the impacts of climate change, it has cost — and will continue to cost them — billions of dollars in property damage, plus additional costs related to mitigation measures and repairs, emergency services and public-health measures.

Exxon Mobil is the nation’s largest oil company and Suncor Energy operates two refineries in Colorado.

The energy companies unsuccessfully tried to move the case to federal court and then sought to have the case dismissed. They argued that the Clean Air Act and the Constitution prevent Boulder’s claims from proceeding under state law.

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But the Colorado Supreme Court allowed Boulder’s case to proceed.

The Supreme Court is set to weigh not only whether to block the lawsuit from moving forward in state court, but also whether it has jurisdiction to review the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision.

The outcome of the case could impact scores of similar lawsuits brought by states and localities against fossil-fuel producers alleging violations of state law. The states and local governments are seeking billions of dollars in money damages.

Alito does not appear to hold individual stock in Exxon or Suncor. But he does invest in two other energy companies, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, according to his financial disclosure.

12 moves that illustrate the brazenness of Trump’s second term — like those taxpayer-funded ads

2026-09-28T17:00:17.926Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/28/politics/trump-taxpayer-funded-ad

When the Trump administration began running taxpayer-funded “public service announcements” that looked suspiciously like campaign ads for President Donald Trump last week, the White House gamely maintained they were “very clearly not campaign ads.”

Then it gave up all pretense.

As of Sunday, the administration was running a new ad that was basically an actual campaign ad, repurposed from Trump’s 2024 bid. It effectively just slapped on a “Paid for by the U.S. Government” disclaimer and called it a day.

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Even some Republicans aren’t bothering to try to spin for the White House on this one.

“You can’t spend public money to promote yourself,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Indeed, there’s really no convincing defense for this. The purpose of the ads is clear. The White House’s comparisons to past public service announcements on issues like Covid-19 are ridiculous.

At the same time, even if the White House spends a few million dollars on these ads, are they really going to move the needle in the 2026 midterms — especially given the billions that will be spent overall? Perhaps not. So one could argue that it’s not worth getting too exercised over.

But the ad is merely the latest in a long series of such provocations from Trump.

While episodes like Trump’s mass pardons of January 6 defendants, his efforts to pay them out of an “anti-weaponization” fund and his proposal to pay every US citizen adult $5,000 if Republicans hold the House and Senate this November were brazen acts that got lots of attention, Trump has peppered the last two years with less sensational but no less brazen acts.

Call them microaggressions against our body politic. And given the constant deluge of news these days, much of the public probably forgot about them, if they even noticed in real time.

But as voters prepare to render their judgment on the first two years of Trump’s second term, it’s worth recalling some of the big examples.

The main problem here is that it’s setting a precedent in which the party in power can effectively use taxpayer money to support their own campaign to hold on to power. It might never take off as a practice, but it’s yet another striking example of the administration bulldozing the line between government business and Trump’s politics.

The White House greeted the fifth anniversary of the Capitol attack by launching a government website that echoed baseless conspiracy theories that the demonstrators that day were “peaceful protesters” who were provoked by law enforcement.

While it’s not unheard-of to provide such data feeds, known as APIs, this takes on a whole new valence when the feed is of Trump posts that are effectively press releases from the federal government — many of which have clear and demonstrable effects on the markets. The firms are basically being allowed to pay Trump’s business to get a leg up on everyone else with their investment decisions. And Truth Social even promoted the idea accordingly, citing Trump’s “most market-moving Truths.”

When the president’s hand-picked Kennedy Center board first tried this last year, Trump professed to being “surprised.” Now he’s openly holding the center hostage to try to secure that same goal.

The White House installed plaques along Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” that feature Trump’s juvenile and conspiratorial taunts of some of his predecessors. They include Joe Biden being represented by a photo of an autopen, an allusion to Barack Obama’s “highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act,” and stating on Bill Clinton’s: “In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!”

Demanding DOJ pay him $230 million

Before the president tried to secure the anti-weaponization fund through a dubious settlement between himself and the government he controls, Trump tried to go much further: He demanded that his own Justice Department pay him $230 million to compensate him for the federal investigations into his actions. (Even aside from the appearance of making his own government pay him, Trump was not acquitted of any crimes.)

The Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor executive order

Trump back in an April 2025 proclamation explicitly ordered federal investigations of two his political foes. It was a low-profile early signal that he would trample all over the norm that says presidents don’t try to sic the Justice Department on their enemies.

On one Friday night, Trump fired the independent watchdogs that oversaw more than a dozen federal agencies — and had proved a bit of a nuisance to Trump in his first term. One of them had reportedly been investigating a business of Elon Musk, who was then a prominent part of the administration. A judge later ruled the firings were illegal because Congress wasn’t given sufficient notice, but declined to reinstate the inspectors general.

A CNN investigation in July reported that Trump used his social media feed to promote more than 20 companies just days after buying stock in them. That included sometimes announcing government action that would benefit those companies. Notably, those dollar sums don’t compare to the billions he’s made on cryptocurrency.

Trump in May 2025 hosted a black-tie dinner for more than 200 top holders of the president’s personal $TRUMP meme coin, with the top 25 getting a small VIP reception. While it’s normal to hold such events with campaign donors, these people were effectively putting money directly in Trump’s pockets — and being rewarded with access if they gave enough.

Freezing and canceling funds for blue states

It’s been evident for a long time that the administration has been targeting the funding of blue states that didn’t vote for Trump. By July, it just came out and admitted it in court. It said it had canceled clean-energy grants “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in other words, whether it “was in a Blue State or a non-Blue State.”

It’s not really news anymore, because Trump has done it so often (and it’s possible it’s just posturing). But his repeated threats to annihilate Iran and target its infrastructure like power plants, bridges, oil wells and water desalination plants are hugely provocative on the world stage, in that such actions might constitute war crimes. They also put the military in the awful position of having to decide whether it would carry out potentially illegal orders.

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 https://www.cbsnews.com/video/most-wanted-ecuadorian-drug-lord-captured-one-year-after-escape/ and of the arrest.

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

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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. Colombia President Abelardo de la Espriella

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, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder. A 60-day state of emergency was declared after his escape, the BBC reported. Macias was recaptured and extradited to the U.S. last year.

He faces seven charges in a New York court, including drug trafficking and arms trafficking, which carry sentences ranging from 20 years in prison to life. He pleaded not guilty.

The U.S. designated Los Choneros as a terrorist organization last year. Los Choneros is also one of 20 criminal gangs declared terrorist groups by Ecuador.

Ecuador, once one of Latin America’s safest countries, has become a key cocaine transit hub between top producers Colombia and Peru, and consumers around the world.

Mexican cartels have forged alliances with local gangs, including Los Choneros, who battle for the control of ports and shipping routes.

One of the gang’s top lieutenants, Dario Penafiel, known as “Topo,” was arrested last September in Ecuador’s Amazon, where he was believed to have been coordinating illegal mineral extraction.