Argentine police yesterday recaptured two killers from a drug gang who escaped from prison, an official said after also arresting their leader, in a case linked to political dirty tricks.
One member of the band who escaped from jail two weeks ago was captured on Saturday and his two accomplices were seized yesterday, in a case that has embarrassed President Mauricio Macri.
Macri himself mistakenly said that all the fugitives were recaptured on Saturday, but it turned out only one, Martin Lanatta, 41, was detained that day. His government had to retract the claim hours later.
Yesterday however, the deputy governor of the central Santa Fe province Carlos Fascendini said police had also captured Martin Lanatta’s brother Cristian, 31, and the third convict, Victor Schillaci, 33.
“The other two fugitives have now been detained” near the town of Cayasta, Fascendini said on the radio.
The government issued an international call on December 31 to catch the three, sparking a dramatic chase that was covered live on television.
Officials alleged the convicts’ escape from jail was an inside job and linked to political dirty tricks.
They were serving life sentences for a drug-related triple killing.
Martin Lanatta sparked a scandal during campaigning for last month’s election, in which Macri beat the ally of his left-wing predecessor Cristina Kirchner.
Lanatta alleged in a television interview that a senior ally of Kirchner was involved in drug crimes.
Macri on Sunday lamented the security failings that led to the convicts’ escape, blaming them on his predecessors.
“The system is rotten. Sadly this destruction of the state has left us with very bad situations, with institutional decadence,” he said.