Brazil arrests partner of 'El Chapo' and Escobar

Brazilian police arrested alleged drug trafficker Mario Sergio Machado Nunes, known as "Goiano," who supposedly has links with Colombian Pablo Escobar and Mexican Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

The Department of Prevention and Repression of Drug Trafficking (Denarc) of the Civil Police in São Paulo reported Friday at a press conference that "Goiano" was arrested Thursday night in a luxury apartment in the city of Guaruja, on state's coast.

Goiano, also known as the "king of disguise" for his costumes and plastic surgeries in order to change his appearance, was tracked thanks to containers sent to Europe and Africa from the port of Santos, the largest in Latin America.

According to the authorities the 60-year-old suspect was on the list of most wanted for Interpol and the Brazilian Federal Police, but the records of other arrests, one in Colombia and the other in the state of Maranhao, as well as his arrest warrant are missing from the national data system.

The commissioner of the Denarc, Alberto Pereira, explained that "Goiano" began his career in the eighties with Escobar, becoming the main contact in Brazil of the then head of the Medellin Cartel.

"He (Goiano) got revenues in the drug trafficking business in 1986 by shopping directly with Pablo Escobar," Pereira said.

Also, "Goiano" had more recent connections with Colombian drug trafficker Henry de Jesús López and with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman.

In addition, he financed the purchase of drugs for the Brazilian market and controlled its transportation from Brazil to 27 countries in Europe and Africa, mainly by sea.