Four thousand soldiers and police today took part in an operation at the prison where Fito, the leader of Ecuador’s most powerful gang, whom the slain presidential candidate had accused of threatening him, is being held, authorities said.

Security forces stormed Guayaquil’s Prison Number 8, where Jose Adolfo Macias, or Fito, leader of the “Los Choneros” gang, has been imprisoned since 2011, in armored vehicles.

In a photo released by the authorities, Fito appears with his hands on his head. In another photo, he is seen lying in his underwear on the ground with a dozen other prisoners.

His name is on the front pages of Ecuadorian newspapers after the assassination last Wednesday of Fernando Villavicencio, 59, a centrist presidential candidate who was coming in second in the polls for the August 20 presidential election.

Last week, he said the jailed gang leader, who is serving a 34-year sentence for murder and drug trafficking, had threatened to kill him.

A former journalist and member of parliament, Fernando Villavicencio had investigated the drug trade in Ecuador.

Six Colombians have been arrested in connection with the murder, while a fourth was killed by gunfire from the candidate’s bodyguards.

Drug gangs are strong in Ecuadorian prisons. More than 430 inmates have been killed in clashes between rival gangs inside prisons since 2021. Dozens of them have been dismembered and their bodies burned.