HomeNewsBrief'Mi Sangre' Previously Arrested, Released in Argentina
BRIEF

'Mi Sangre' Previously Arrested, Released in Argentina

ARGENTINA / 2 NOV 2012 BY GEOFFREY RAMSEY EN

New details have emerged about the capture of Urabeños leader Henry de Jesus Lopez, alias "Mi Sangre," in Buenos Aires, including the fact that Argentine officials had previously arrested and then released the accused drug trafficker in May.

According to the head of Colombia's judicial police (DIJIN), General Carlos Ramiro, the October 30 arrest of Mi Sangre was not the first time that the Urabeños boss had been detained in Argentina. Ramiro told Colombian press that Jesus Lopez had actually been taken into police custody in May on the basis of an Interpol notice requesting information on his whereabouts. But Argentine police had to release him because it did not yet include a warrant for his arrest.

Police intelligence officials kept tabs on him, however, placing GPS tracking devices on five of his automobiles to monitor his movement. On the day of his arrest, officials say Mi Sangre was planning on meeting with a representative of an unspecified Mexican crime syndicate. 

Subsequent reports on Mi Sangre's activities in Buenos Aires suggest that he had a high degree of mobility. El Tiempo reports that Jesus Lopez held false passports from seven different countries: Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, Mexico and Paraguay.

InSight Crime Analysis

One question is why Mi Sangre continued to live in Argentina after his arrest in May, when he knew that officials had located him. Considering his freedom of movement, the fact that he chose not to use his false identification to relocate permanently elsewhere is puzzling. It suggests he felt safe in Argentina despite his prior arrest, perhaps believing he had an "understanding" with local authorities.

This would fit with reports of deeply-entrenched corruption among police in Argentina, a trend which has proven to be resistant to government attempts at reform. It also would confirm Argentina's emerging status as a popular hideout for Colombian drug traffickers looking to evade law enforcement.

Mi Sangre's frequent presence in Uruguay is concerning as well, as officials there have grown more concerned about the influence of foreign criminals. Uruguayan authorities believe this has led to a rise in cocaine trafficking and organized crime-related violence in the country. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BOLIVIA / 8 NOV 2022

The Amazon is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, where wildlife trafficking threatens hundreds of thousands of species.

COLOMBIA / 26 MAY 2022

Until his death, Gentil Duarte was the most-wanted man in Colombia and one of South America's leading drug traffickers.

ARGENTINA / 8 NOV 2022

In Argentina, Telegram is becoming the go-to method for finding drugs on the street level as dealers and consumers seek…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…