Brazilian police arrest major drug trafficker who evaded arrest by having plastic surgery
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 20 September, 2015, 5:04pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 20 September, 2015, 5:04pm
Associated Press in Sao Paulo
Mario Sergio Machado Nunes, nicknamed “Goiano,” was a veteran trafficker who had been sought by Brazilian federal police and Interpol. Photo: SCMP Picture
Brazilian police have arrested a man they say is one of the country’s biggest international drug traffickers.
The Sao Paulo Public Safety Department said in a statement posted on its website that police caught Brazilian Mario Sergio Machado Nunes on Friday in a luxury apartment in the seaside resort city of Guaruja. Interpol had also issued an arrest warrant for Nunes.
The statement said that for several years Nunes evaded arrest thanks to plastic surgery on his face.
Police inspector Alberto Matheus said Nunes was the head of an international organisation that distributed cocaine to 27 countries, including the United States, Spain, Belgium, France and South Africa.
In addition to his links with Pablo Escobar, who was killed in 1993, “Goiano” stood out for a colorful plan to build a drug-running submarine. Photo: AFP
Police said Nunes used to negotiate with the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar of Colombia’s Medellin cartel in the 1980s. They say he also worked closely with Henry de Jesus Lopez Londono, who was arrested last year in Buenos Aires. They say Londono headed the Urabenos gang in Colombia.
“He never laid hands on the drugs. He was in charge of administrating the drug shipments in containers,” Matheus said.
Police said Nunes financed the construction of a submarine to be used in drug trafficking operations.
The G1 news portal said the submarine was going to be built in South Africa with Colombian engineers. The submarine was never built.
