Lima, September 15 (teleSUR-RHC)-- A joint operation by police in Ecuador and Peru this weekend resulted in the capture of Gerald Oropeza Lopez, a former Peruvian politician accused of allegedly leading an international drug trafficking organization.

Oropeza has been a fugitive from Peruvian law enforcement for five months, after he was expelled from Peru's APRA party and fled the country when his alleged links to drug trafficking were made public.

Prior to fleeing the country, Oropeza – who reportedly goes by the alias “Scarface” – was nearly murdered in April, when his Porsche SUV was shot at and blown up with a grenade, presumably in a drug-trafficking dispute.

The former Peruvian politician is allegedly involved in operations to direct the collection and export of cocaine via containers from the port of Callao on the central Peruvian coast to Europe, Central America and Mexico.
      
The local police chief, Vicente Romero, said Oropeza was arrested Saturday afternoon while walking towards a spa in Salinas on the coast of neighboring Ecuador. 

Oropeza was then delivered to Peru's Ministry of the Interior at the border, where he was transferred to police headquarters for criminal investigation.