Ecuador detains former minister José Serrano after U.S. deportation

Serrano’s return puts Ecuador’s justice system and rule of law under renewed scrutiny Originally published on Global Voices Screenshot taken from the YouTube video “José Serrano enters the El Encuentro prison after being deported from the United States,” by TVC Noticias ; fair use. Following the U.S. immigration system’s refusal to grant political asylum to former Interior Minister José Serrano Salgado , his deportation to Ecuador was carried out under the strictest security measures. Serrano faces several investigations opened by the Attorney General’s Office of Ecuador, related to his tenure as a government official under former President Rafael Correa , as well as his alleged participation as the mastermind behind the assassination of journalist and former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio . In the latter case, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, the judges ordered both pretrial detention and for him to be transferred to the El Encuentro prison (officially called the Santa Elena No. 1 Detention Center), located in the coastal province of Santa Elena . On August 7, 2025, Serrano was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the U.S. due to an immigration violation resulting from an overstay. He was first detained in Miami, then in an immigrant detention center in Mississippi until August 28, 2026. Serrano entered the United States in May 2021 after completing his term as a legislator. That same year, he applied for political asylum in the U.S. On May 13, 2026, Judge Romy Lerner denied his asylum request , but granted him protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), which delayed his return to Ecuador. However, an investigation by The New York Times , published on August 16, 2026, sheds light on the political background involving the U.S. government and its allies. The report states that Serrano’s deportation took place just 15 minutes after high-level meetings were held between the U.S. administration and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. According to The New York Times, just a quarter of an hour after the charter plane carrying Serrano to Ecuador took off, President Daniel Noboa announced , through his X account, Serrano’s impending arrival on Ecuadorian soil. Photographs show ICE agents escorting him, with his hands and feet shackled, and upon his arrival in Ecuador, he was shown wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet. Who is José Serrano? Serrano held several public positions in Ecuador during and after the Correa administration. He served as Interior Minister from 2011 to 2016; before that, in 2009, he was Secretary of Transparency, and in 2010 he took over the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Cults. During his tenure at the Ministry of the Interior, notable achievements involved the comprehensive restructuring of the police system, including the creation of forensic laboratories for the police force, and upgrades to patrol cars and Community Police and Surveillance Units nationwide. His work against drug trafficking was particularly significant and on June 6, 2016, he was decorated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, in recognition of his fight. However, his tenure was marked by controversy over public procurement related to — among other things — emergency contracts, the purchase of horses and dogs, the renovation of police facilities, police uniforms, and cleaning services. In Ecuador’s February 2017 general elections, he was the most voted-for assembly member. As a result, he occupied the position of President of the National Legislative Assembly until March 9, 2018, when he was removed following the leak of an audio recording between him and former State Comptroller Carlos Pólit , who was a fugitive from justice in the Odebrecht case . This exposed the political manipulation of the Ecuadorian justice system. After completing his legislative term (2017–2021), he left public life and settled in the United States, where he applied for political asylum before the immigration courts, alleging political persecution and risks to his life. Criminal investigations in Ecuador Serrano’s return to his home country opens a new chapter in a career marked by several criminal investigations. The Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing cases related to different matters: his alleged participation in Villavicencio’s murder; complaints of influence peddling and bribery linked to revelations that emerged during the proceedings against Pólit in the United States; allegations of attempted murder filed by attorney Luggi García ; another concerning his alleged participation in the kidnapping of Fernando Balda in Colombia; and a 2019 complaint alleging that he demanded contributions from the salaries of officials at the Ministry of the Interior. The case with the greatest political impact is the alleged assassination of Villavicencio, as the Prosecutor’s Office maintains he may have played a role as a liaison and in surveillance. His defense rejects that hypothesis , states there is insufficient evidence to link him to the murder, and argues that the accusation relies primarily on the account of a protected witness. After being imprisoned at El Encuentro on August 28 of this year, Serrano alleged, via his X account , that he was “not receiving treatment compatible with the dignity of a human being” inside the penitentiary — a claim echoed by his daughter Véronica, who holds the Ecuadorian state responsible for her father’s life. The government’s perspective Serrano’s return quickly took on a political dimension, with the Noboa administration framing his deportation and subsequent imprisonment as part of the enforcement of judicial decisions. In announcing Serrano’s arrival, Noboa also issued a warning to former President Correa, essentially telling him that his turn was coming soon. Meanwhile, Interior Minister John Reimberg stated that “no one is above the law,” and Minister Nathaly Morillo hailed Serrano’s deportation as a victory for the government and commented on his return by calling him “one of the most sinister figures of the ‘plundered decade’,” adding, “Little by little, the truth keeps coming to light.” Beyond the political confrontation, the case raises a fundamental question: how far can the state go in pursuing serious crimes without weakening the guarantees it must recognize, even for those facing the most serious accusations? Serrano’s incarceration makes his case not only a test of the fight against impunity, but also a test of the effective observance of due process and the rule of law in Ecuador. Written by Gina Yauri