In embarrassing turn, only 1 Argentine convict apprehended

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In embarrassing turn, only 1 Argentine convict apprehended

PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press
PATRICIA LUNA, Associated Press


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — In an embarrassment to President Mauricio Macri's young administration, Argentina's top police official said Saturday that only one of three notorious convicts were in custody just hours after top officials had celebrated the capture of all three fugitives.

The nearly two-week manhunt appeared to have finally come to an end in the afternoon, when several police and top politicians said authorities had apprehended Victor Schialli and brothers Martin and Cristian Lanatta. The men escaped from the General Alvear prison in Buenos Aires province the day after Christmas.

They were convicted in 2008 of killing three men allegedly connected to an ephedrine trafficking ring.

Macri, Vice President Gabriela Michetti, Cabinet chief Marcos Pena and Maria Eugenia Vidal, governor of the Buenos Aires province, tweeted congratulatory messages to security forces and promised to continue the fight against drug trafficking.

But a few hours later, the head of the South American nation's federal police force said that in fact only Martin Lanatta had been captured.

"We continue to intensely search for the two (other) fugitives," said Roman di Santo.

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich told reporters late Saturday that authorities had received "false information." She blamed a "network of accomplices" for throwing authorities off the trail, but didn't provide details. She said the focus should be on how one of the men was caught, not on the bungled information.

"Argentines can sleep a little easier tonight," she said.

Local television channels showed Martin Lanatta being transported in a rural area of the Santa Fe province north of Buenos Aires.

The search, which has often been broadcast live on national television channels, has focused attention on Argentina's drug problems, which Macri vowed to combat throughout his election campaign. The three had been on the run since the escape, at times apparently engaging in shootouts with police, made-for-movie footage captured by news helicopters following authorities.

The prison break has also had political reverberations in the highly polarized country: One of the three convicts last year claimed former presidential Cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez was the mastermind of the killings. Fernandez has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Macri's administration initially treated the escape as a local issue to be dealt with by authorities in the province. But early this week, as the search dragged on, he jumped into the fray and went on the offensive. He cast the situation as an example of how drug trafficking had run amok, to the point that drug bosses could pull the strings to spring convicts from jail.

"The fight against drugs is a labor we are all committed to," Macri tweeted on Saturday, right before congratulating security forces for bringing all three men in. "There is still much work ahead."

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-10