Ecuador ex-minister deported from US in Villavicencio murder case

Jose Serrano, a former Ecuadorian interior minister accused of helping orchestrate the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, has been deported from the United States to face justice in his home country.

Serrano arrived in Guayaquil on Saturday, where he was met by heavily armed police. Footage released by the government shows officers placing a bulletproof vest on him for his own safety before escorting him into a vehicle. President Daniel Noboa confirmed the deportation on social media, stating that Serrano would be taken to El Encuentro prison.

Serrano, who served under former President Rafael Correa between 2007 and 2017, had been held in a US immigration detention centre since August 2025 for overstaying his tourist visa. A US court rejected his asylum application in May.

Ecuadorian prosecutors allege that Serrano, while in office, obtained privileged information about Villavicencio and passed it to members of the Los Lobos criminal gang, which carried out the killing. Villavicencio was shot dead after leaving a political rally in northern Quito in August 2023.

Serrano has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated. Six other individuals have been charged in connection with the murder, and a judge is expected to rule on whether they should stand trial. In July 2024, a man and a woman were sentenced to nearly 35 years in prison for carrying out the assassination.