Colombian police said Monday they have arrested the mafia boss who allegedly ordered the murder of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral, who was killed in Guatemala last year.
Colombian authorities captured alleged Costa-Rican mafia don Jimenez Gonzalez Alejandro alias “Palidejo,” who they suspect of masterminding Cabral’s murder in Guatemala July 9, 2011.
The 74-year-old Cabral was reportedly gunned down as the criminals attempted to assassinate the Nicaraguan businessman who was driving the singer to the airport.
Alejandro was “intercepted in transit on the Pacific coast,” a police official said in anonymity as he was not allowed to comment on the case to the press. Colombian news specified that the mafioso was arrested in the coastal Choco department by the Navy who then handed the suspect over to the police.
The arrested man initially gave a false identity but after questioning authorities managed to determine his real identity.
Alejandro is wanted internationally and by Guatemalan authorities for a series of crimes, including murder and money laundering. Costa Rican Security Minister Mario Zamora told Colombian television network RCN that his arrest “is important because he is someone who plays a major role in the leadership and direction of organized mafias in Central America.”
Singer-songwriter Cabral was famous for his political and literary lyrics and was popular throughout Latin America.