Nicaragua to charge Costa Rican suspected of plotting hit that killed Argentine singer

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaraguan authorities will prosecute Costa Rican Alejandro Jiménez, aka “El Palidejo” (Paleface), for alleged drug trafficking, a judge announced Wednesday.

Jiménez is currently in prison in Guatemala on suspicion of ordering the attack that killed Argentinean singer Facundo Cabral in July 2011.

Criminal Judge Julio Arias indicted Jiménez and 20 others, including former Nicaraguan judge Julio Osuna, for allegedly running a local drug-trafficking network. Eleven of the 20 suspected traffickers remain at large.

An initial public hearing is scheduled for July 30 and will take place without Jiménez, who is awaiting trial in Guatemala for the murder of Cabral.

Jiménez is accused of plotting the crime, which targeted Nicaraguan businessman Henry Fariñas, who survived the attack. Cabral, who was riding in Fariñas car, was not the intended victim.