By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2026-08-29 19:00:41 | Updated at 2026-08-29 20:14:22
1 hour ago
ICE deported an ex-Ecuadorian minister accused of helping a drug cartel murder a presidential candidate back in his home country — even after a US judge blocked his removal over fears he be tortured if returned to the South American nation.
José Serrano, who served as Ecuador’s interior minister under leftist former President Rafael Correa, was deported Friday and promptly mocked by President Daniel Noboa as the newest “guest” of the country’s notorious El Encuentro mega-prison.
“We said it, we delivered. José Serrano, Rafael Correa’s Interior Minister, is the new guest at El Encuentro,” he wrote on X.
Noboa also took a shot at Correa, who ruled from 2007 to 2017 and lives with his family in Belgium, where he was granted asylum.
An Ecuadorian court convicted Correa in absentia in 2020 for receiving bribes for public contracts.
“It’s your turn any moment now. @mashirafael,” Noboa wrote.
Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office accused Serrano, who was the Interior Minister from 2012 to 2016, and six other people — including Los Lobos cartel leader Wilmer ‘Pipo’ Chavarría — on Aug. 6 for their role in the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio.
Villavicencio was executed Aug. 9, 2023, by six Colombian assassins after a campaign rally in Quito.
The assault took place just 11 days before the first round of the special general elections after the National Assembly was dissolved in May. Incumbent President Guillermo Lasso was eligible to run but chose not to.
Noboa placed second to Luisa González and then defeated her in the run-off election.
Authorities allege that Serrano filtered information to Los Lobos regarding Villavicencio’s movements.
“This event struck at the foundations of the rule of law, such as freedom of expression (…) and the security of political participation,” lead prosecutor Ana Hidalgo said.
Chavarría, who faked his death, was arrested in Spain in November 2025 and is awaiting extradition.
Five people tied to Los Lobos were convicted in 2024 for their roles in crime. The Colombian assassins were found dead at a Guayaquil jail in October 2023.
Serrano, who was National Assembly president from 2017 to 2018, arrived in the US on a tourist visa in May 2021 and applied for asylum five months later. ICE arrested him at his Miami home on Aug. 7, 2025.
US immigration Judge Romy Lerner denied Serrano’s asylum case during a May 13 hearing but suspended his deportation order under the United Nations Convention Against Torture act, which prohibits the deportation of persons at risk of torture or other cruel punishments.
However, ICE still managed to deport Serrano.
“Today, @DHSgov deported José Serrano, who was wanted by INTERPOL and faced charges in Ecuador for corruption and ties to cartels,” Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Pablo Segura wrote on X.
