Ongoing trials in Peru against jailed cocaine trafficker Fernando Zevallos and his sister Lupe must come to an end before they can be extradited to Chile said anti-drug prosecutor Iván Quispe Mansilla Thursday.
It is important that Peruvian justice determine their criminal responsibility before any extradition request can be examined, Mansilla told state news agency Andina.
Fernando Zevallos, who has been dubbed the Al Capone of Peru, is serving a 20-year sentence in Lima’s Piedras Gordas penitentiary.
Zevallos is the founder of Aerocontinente, which grew in 12 years from a small charter fleet to Peru’s largest airline, underwritten by laundered cocaine profits. The company operated until 2004, when it quickly collapsed after Zevallos was added to the Washington’s list of drug kingpins under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. The measure prevented any U.S. company from doing business with him and he was unable to insure his fleet.
In November 2005, Zevallos was arrested and found guilty of drug trafficking, stemming from the seizure of 3.3 tons of cocaine a decade earlier in the northern city of Piura.
He is currently facing trial for drug trafficking, money laundering, homicide and racketeering along with former President Alberto Fujimori’s ex-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.
His sister, as well as other family members and Aerocontinente entourage, also face charges for laundering more than $80 million.
“I have never invested an illegal dollar in Aerocontinente, nor in any of my business or personal activities,” Lupe Zevallos said in comments to RPP Radio.
