Mr Vladimiro Montesinos, the fugitive spy chief of Peru's disgraced former president Mr Alberto Fujimori, has been captured in Venezuela.
Mr Hugo Chávez the Venezuelan president, today said Mr Montesinos was detained in Caracas on last night and was being held at military intelligence headquarters. He said he had ordered Mr Luis Miquilena, the interior minister, to ensure Mr Montesinos was quickly turned over to the Peruvian authorities.
Mr Montesinos fled Peru in October, via luxury yacht and chartered aircraft, for Venezuela. The former intelligence chief is alleged to have amassed as much as $1billion from a range of illicit activities, including extortion, drug-trafficking, blackmail and arms deals.
Observers were today attempting to determine whether the capture of Latin America's most wanted man buffs up the Venezuelan government's tarnished image or further blemishes it, given that the capture seemingly confirms that Mr Montesinos was receiving protection, perhaps official, in Venezuela.
Senior government officials, including Mr Chávez, have in recent months denied knowledge of Mr Montesinos' presence in Venezuela, despite admissions by police sources that he had at least passed through. Plastic surgeons at a clinic in Caracas had also confirmed they had performed facial reconstructive surgery on a man with a close likeness to Mr Montesinos.
Mr Chávez, who said the capture was a "happy coincidence", made the announcement in the presence of Andean leaders at a regional summit in the city of Valencia. It followed a brief visit last week by the Venezuelan leader to Mr Alejandro Toledo, Peru's president-elect.
"It is evident that this is a political manoeuvre by the government designed to rescue the image of Venezuela in the eyes of the rest of Latin America," said Mr Mario Carratu, a former Venezuelan military attache.
Financial Times Service