New Delhi, July 22 -- The head of a violent Ecuadorian gang accused of smuggling cocaine and firearms between South America and the U.S. pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges Monday in New York.

Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, whose nickname is "Fito," appeared in federal court in Brooklyn a day after Ecuador extradited him to the U.S. A judge ordered him detained until trial and set his next court date for Sept. 19.

U.S. prosecutors accuse Macias of leading the vicious Los Choneros gang that used hitmen, bribes and military weapons, including machine guns and grenades. The hitmen, or sicarios, murdered, tortured and kidnapped people in Ecuador as the gang committed violence against law enforcement, politicians, attorneys, prosecutors...