Costa Rican authorities announced yesterday they have frozen $2.6 million in assets in bank accounts tied to Colombian drug lord Edgar Vallejo-Guarín, also known as Jairo Gómez and “Beto the Gypsy,” who was detained in September in Spain.
Costa Rican Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall’Anese said in a press conference that deposits totaling $2.6 million had been made under the name “Beto the Gypsy” in Costa Rica to the accounts of different businesses, a friend and girlfriend of Vallejo’s.
Dall’Anese said Vallejo was one of the five most-wanted drug lords by the U.S., but added that the investigation is continuing, and he did not rule out the possible existence of further funds in other accounts.
“Blows to the pocketbooks are the ones that hurt criminal organizations the most,” the chief prosecutor said.
In June 2001, a federal judge in Florida charged Vallejo with various drug trafficking charges, and a $5 million ransom was placed on his head.
Spanish authorities, with information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, arrested Vallejo in Madrid on Sept. 4.
