Santa ElenaNoboa announced Serrano’s return 15 minutes after takeoff.
A US removal, not extradition, handed Ecuador a former minister no judge has tried.
Serrano, a Correa-era interior minister, faces charges including the Villavicencio assassination.
Judges ordered pretrial detention at El Encuentro prison as Ecuador’s courts face due-process scrutiny.
How each outlet framed it
- Global Voices
- links detention to dual investigations: corruption probe under Correa and investigation into journalist Villavicencio's assassination
Sources: Global Voices