Henry de Jesus “Mi Sangre” López Londoño, 41, was captured Tuesday afternoon in the Buenos Aires suburb of Pilar by Argentine law enforcement forces. The Colombian alleged major drug trafficker was transferred under heavy security to judicial custody, were he awaits a judge’ decision regarding his extradition.

López Londoño is widely suspected of holding leadership in the Los Urabeños and Los Zetas drug cartels as well as the rightwing paramilitary group United Self Defence of Colombia (AUC). The Colombian government accuses López Londoño of arms manufacture and trafficking, the illegal use of radio electric equipment, and terrorism; the United States of cocaine trafficking. Both countries have issued extradition warrants. Director of the Colombian national police force, José Roberto León Riaño, says he is suspected to be directly responsible for the death of 200 people over the past three years as well as to have headed a cartel branch which conducted money laundering, extortion, and assassinations. Others have called him an heir to infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.

In a press conference following López Londoño’s capture, National Security Secretary Sergio Berni described him as “the most dangerous and sought-after narcotics criminal in the world” making his arrest “the most important news in the fight against narcotics trafficking in the world.”

Colombian and Argentina intelligence maintain that López Londoño fled Colombia two years ago, pushed either by law enforcement pressure or the arrest of his accountant, Edison Gómez Molina. He travelled extensively between Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador with seven different passports. In December of 2011, he stationed himself in the suburbs of Buenos Aires with his wife and son, posing as a Venezuelan businessman under the alias Rolando Suárez Rodríguez.

On Tuesday afternoon, López Londoño was detained by the Intelligence Secretary and elite federal police forces in a restaurant in Pilar while making a dinner reservation. Merely hours before, authorities say he met with representatives of the Mexican cartel Los Zetas for which he was allegedly the principal provider of cocaine. According to sources obtained by La Nación, he was betrayed by a money laundering colleague.

Police forces, including a helicopter and dozens of elite federal police troops, transferred López Londoño from the Federal Police Superintendence for Dangerous Narcotics to the Commodore Py Tribunal yesterday morning. There, judge Sebastián Ramos, who will preside over the case, notified him that both Colombia and the United States have ordered his extradition. In reply, López Londoño claimed that the case against him is part of a international conspiracy and that he was only interested in investing in the auto-dealership industry. It is now up to Justice Ramos to determine López Londoño’s next destination after a confidential inquiry, the result of which may be his extradition.

The investigation began three months ago, when Colombian Minister of National Defence Juan Carlos Pinzón alerted Nilda Garré, Argentina’s Minister of Security, that thanks to wiretapping operations, Colombia had discovered that López Londoño’s whereabouts: Buenos Aires. “They didn’t know the exact place in which he was residing, but they did know the area, in which we conducted a cooperative task with Intelligence Secretary personnel that determined where he was taking refuge,” recalled Minister Garré. León Riaño commented to Radio Mitre that Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Argentina president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner collaborated directly in the search. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) assisted.

Agents have been enthusiastic about the operation’s success. “This man’s capture is strategic to continue with the fight against narcotics trafficking,” said Minister Garré. León Riaño predicted, “There will be less violence and fewer homicides.”

According to León Riaño, the international hunt for López Londoño almost ended twice before, once in Argentina and once and Paraguay. This operation was more successful, he explained, because tracking devices had been placed on López Londoño’s cars.

According to Colombian general Carlos Ramiro Mena, one of those incidents occurred in May, when López Londoño was held up and later released by Argentine police, who lacked any official international order to detain him. Intelligence Secretary Sergio Berni denies this claim, maintaining that General Mena had confused López Londoño with another person.

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos congratulated Argentina via Twitter yesterday, at the same time at his government announced it will pay a US$660,000 reward for López Londoño’s capture. Argentina is now determining if López Londoño bought property or founded businesses under his false identities.

López Londoño’s life in Argentina appears to have been one of extreme security measures. He drove armour-plated cars, which he changed weekly, and employed ten bodyguards. He moved from one of his six houses to another frequently to elude authorities. He had previously undergone surgeries and hair plugs to alter his appearance.

Los Urabeños controls the transport of drugs through the Urabá peninsula, which connect Colombia to Panama and the rest of Central America, as well as parts of the Caribbean. It was created during the AUC’s demilitarization between 2003 and 2006.

The decapitated bodies of 43 men and six women have been found on the roadside in Cadereyta-Reynosa, near Monterrey, Mexico.

The bodies were abandoned in the early hours of Sunday and were found with a message signed by the Los Zetas criminal organization. Los Zetas have been fighting the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels for control of smuggling routes into the US.

The bodies also had their hands removed to further complicate identification.

Violence in Mexico is at an all time high with gruesome murders occurring daily, related to organized crime and the drug trade. However, this mass-murder points to the unprecedented escalation of violence occurring recently, which comes as Mexico approaches elections scheduled for July 1.

These elections will decide on a new president, as well as congressmen, senators and officials in 14 districts, including the capital.

The issue of violence is central to the campaigns of candidates vying for election to succeed President Felipe Calderon.

Peña Nieto, the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has stated his priority would be to restore peace and tranquility to Mexico.

According to official sources, this is the third such killing committed in the past nine days.

Only last week The Secretary of Mexican Armed Marines (Semar) detained the head of the Los Zetas in Veracruz on the country’s East coast. However, this recent mass-murder suggests the capture has done little to curb violence.

The Secretary of Mexican Armed Marines (Semar) has detained the head of the organised crime gang, ‘Los Zetas’, in Veracruz on the country’s East coast.

Marcos Jesús Hernández Rodríguez, alias ‘El Chilango’ is head of the criminal organisation that was thought to be responsible for killing four Semar marines last April.

The four marines were working undercover as drivers on a motorcycle repair course for two weeks in April when they were kidnapped near Xalapa, in the East of Mexico.

The spokeman for the governmental force, José Luis Vergara, expressed his condolences to the families of the murdered marines and said that Semar’s actions, “strengthen the desire and the unwavering necessity to continue incessantly with the actions we are taking against these groups.”

It is believed that Rodríguez is associated with at least seven other murders and involved in three inconclusive inquiries. The marines captured him with two large guns, a smaller gun, 250 rounds of ammunition and communication equipment.

The province of Veracruz has become the centre of the narco-trafficking war in recent months, with government forces focusing on taking on ‘Los Zetas’ and the drug cartel Sinaloa.

In Mexico more than 50,000 deaths have been attributed to organised crime since December 2006 when the president Felipe Calderón launched a full frontal attack against the drug cartels.

In recent weeks, there have been separate cases of bodies being found decapitated and hanging from bridges in what is just the latest chapter in the unrelenting war on drugs.

Nine Corpses were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, North-Eastern Mexico this morning. The bodies had been tortured, handcuffed, and blindfolded before being strung up and left hanging from the bridge.

According to the Nuevo Laredo mayor, the victims were five men and four women who are thought to be members of the organised crime gang, the Gulf Cartel.

A note found with the bodies indicates Los Zetas, another notorious drug gang in Mexico, carried out the killings in retaliation. The note suggested that the victims had carried out a car bomb attack, which went off a few days ago outside the Public Safety Building in Nuevo Laredo.

Last month, 14 dismembered bodies were found in an abandoned truck in the same town.

Violence has heightened recently in the Tamaulipas region, which borders on Laredo, Texas. Officials say the violence is due to drug trafficking territory disputes between the two gangs. Los Zetas were originally part of the Gulf cartel, before they broke away in 2010.

Vicente Fox, the Mexican ex-president, came forward on Wednesday condemning the violence of the drug war, which he deemed an “absolute failure.” He suggested that other avenues to tackle drug trafficking should be explored, including legalisation.

In a meeting with foreign correspondents, Fox eluded to the “trap” Mexico is currently in, “paying the enormous price” caught between producer nations – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia – and consumer nations – the United States.

On asked about US cooperation if Mexico saw fit to move to legalisation, he responded that, “Mexico can do it without consulting the United States.”

A deadly riot between gangs left 44 dead on Sunday at a prison in Monterrey.

Jorge Domene, spokesman for state security, confirmed the deaths at a news conference.

“All of [the deceased] have been victimised by sharp and blunt objects,” he said, citing stones, clubs and sharp objects as the murder weapons.

The event came less than one week after a fire in Comayagua, Honduras killed more than 350 inmates, further fixing the spotlight on the dangerous overcrowding in many Latin American prisons.

According to local news reports, the Mexican prison was currently housing 3,000 inmates, but actual capacity was only built for 1,500. The three prisons in Monterrey jointly experience overcrowding rates of 36 percent.

The outbreak was originally thought to have been the result of a clash between two rival drug gangs at the penitentiary, the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. The two are cited as among Mexico’s most dangerous and powerful criminal organisations, and according to Digital ABC, relatives say the prison is “in the hands of Los Zetas.”

For this reason, authorities are not ruling out the possibility of the fight starting as a ruse to distract from a break out, and complacency among security guards on duty.

Preliminary investigations, Domene said, suggest there was a “plot with custodians.”

Local news sources report that the brawl began between 1:30 and 2:00 local time on Sunday, and that all those dead were inmates of the “Delta” or “D” room.

After the news was reported, around 400 friends and relatives of inmates surrounded the prison looking for information on their loved ones.

18 police officials were arrested yesterday in Mexico for having links with the Zetas drug cartel. The officials were receiving up to 700 dollars a month from the cartel and were arrested in the state of Veracruz.

After a tip off from a local restaurant, the navy also arrested nine fugitives who escaped from jail.  The police claimed that the prisoners had been released in order to join the Zetas.

The state has witnessed an increase in violence, including kidnappings and killings attributed to the Zetas.  Two weeks ago, 35 corpses were found in a hotel and the incident has been linked to the cartel.

In addition, five decomposing heads were discovered last week by a primary school in Acapulco supposedly connected to the group.

The government are trying to install a plan to establish security and to give out the clear message that they will not tolerate organised crime.

The Mexican government is increasingly using the army and navy to bring to light corruption in the police force.

The government of Guatemala has declared a state of lock-down for the next 30 days in the region of Petén, northern Guatemala.

This was announced in response to the discovery on Sunday of 27 peasants shot and beheaded on a farm called Los Cocos. The farm lies in the municipality of La Libertad, on the border with Mexico.

The crime has been linked to the actions of the Mexican drug cartel, Los Zetas. Members of the group have been placed at various points in Guatemala, near the Mexican border, to ensure the safe passage of drugs.

The president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, is declaring a state of lock-down for the second time. The first time was in December 2010, in the northern region of Alta Verapaz.At the same time, the president explained that all of the country’s security forces are keeping watch on at least eight strategic points to prevent the departure of the killers.

The spokesman for the National Civic Police (PNC) of Guatemala, Donald González, said that Hugo Francisco Chávez Méndez, a suspected member of Los Zetas, had been captured alive on Monday. Chávez Ménez is suspected of taking part in the events over the weekend.

The capture came after a clash in the town of Santa Elena, in the province of Péten, during which two other suspected killers, who were accompanying Chávez Méndez, were killed.

Story courtesy of Agencia Púlsar, the news agency of AMARC-ALC.