Costa Rica arrests narco linked to Mexican cartels

Costa Rican police on Tuesday arrested an alleged drug dealer linked to Mexican cartels who had been wanted by United States authorities.

José Efraín López Mendoza, alias M1, was arrested while traveling in a vehicle in the town of Escazú, west of San José, in an operation with Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) and the local municipality police.

The director of OIJ, Walter Espinoza, indicated that López Mendoza ran an organization whose structure emulated that of the Mexican cartels, with a rigid internal cohesion.

He said the organization is suspected of trafficking more than two tons of cocaine in recent years.

“The values ​​of honor, pride and loyalty shielded the organization and gave the impression of being inaccessible to the police,” Espinoza told reporters.

The organization called itself Movimiento Revolucionario de Crimen Organizado, or Revolutionary Movement of Organized Crime.

Espinoza said that M1 had several members outside of Costa Rica, mostly in Mexico and Panama, where U.S. drug agents were following in their footsteps.

Watch the dramatic arrest below: