The most wanted man in Peru, the fugitive spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, has been detained in Venezuela, Jane Diaz-Limaco reports from Lima.
His capture ends an eight-month hunt for the man at the heart of a massive corruption scandal that brought down the government of President Alberto Fujimori.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told reporters covering an Andean Group summit: "Want to hear some news? We've got Montesinos."
Montesinos (56) was detained in Caracas by Venezuelan military intelligence agents on Saturday. The Venezuelan leader said he would be deported to Peru "more quickly than a cock can crow".
He was the de facto secret service chief during Mr Fujimori's decade in power and established a web of influence over the government, armed forces, courts and the media. This made him arguably the most powerful man in Peru. Secretly he filmed hundreds of meetings with military leaders, politicians, judges and business people in a set of videos that show millions of dollars changing hands. The videos have since scandalised Peruvian society.
Montesinos and his cronies are thought to have siphoned off a fortune from arms-and-drugs trafficking and corruption. Investigators believe it could top a billion dollars. It was one of these "Vladivideos", that shows a congressman receiving $15,000 from Montesinos to switch his support to President Fujimori, that brought about the fall of the Fujimori regime in August 2000.
Montesinos now faces dozens of charges in Peru from abuse of authority, corruption and drug-trafficking to masterminding torture and death squad killings.