José Efraín López Mendoza, alias M1, and leader of one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Costa Rica was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in Escazú.
The capture was carried out by officials of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) after surveillance by agents of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS).
Lopez was wanted by the FBI and the DEA, as a suspect in large shipments of drugs from Costa Rica to the United States.
M1 had links and links with Mexican cartels. His gang, dismantled last April by the OIJ, had an alleged internal code that justified the criminal acts they committed. This was revealed by the director of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) Wálter Espinoza.
This gang was broken up in several raids that took place in Grecia, Atenas, Pococí, Pérez Zeledón, Upala, Abangares and Cañas.
Espinoza said that the organization had ingrained internal cohesion and that they had created a kind of ideology that justified the criminal acts. They called themselves “Organized Crime Revolutionary Movement (Moreco)” and used the motto “honor, pride and loyalty.”
In fact, they even had a kind of flag with symbols related to their name, made by the members of the organization. The band was mostly made up of Costa Ricans, but it was discovered that they had important links internationally, so the investigation, initiated since 2016, involved FBI and DEA authorities.