QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuadorean gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as "Fito," is set to appear in U.S. federal court on Monday, where he will plead not guilty to international charges of drug and weapons trafficking,

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, whose nickname is "Fito," escaped from a prison in Ecuador last year and was recaptured late June. In April, a U.S. Attorney indicted him in New York City on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the United States.

Ecuador’s most notorious drug kingpin has been extradited to the United States, a month after he was recaptured following a prison escape that sparked a wave of violence across the country.