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An alleged Central American drug kingpin, Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba, AKA Shock, was arrested after being located thanks to his wife’s vacation photos revealing his location. Grijabla had been wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for his alleged involvement in an international drug trafficking ring.
The New York Post reports that he rarely traveled with his 32-year-old wife, Estefania McDonald Rodriguez, but that he had recently purchased $20,000 worth of plane tickets to fly his wife and family to Europe.
Rodriguez then proceeded to make several posts on her since-deleted Instagram account documenting their vacation. One photo in particular showed Grijalba and and his wife posing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
After determining that the couple had moved on to the United Kingdom via her photos, The Sun reports National Crime Agency officers arrested Grijalba near London Bridge.
The fact that Grijabla was in Europe was key to the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) obtaining an international warrant as Costa Rica prohibits the extradition of its citizens.
“His wife traveled out of the country a lot and posted about it on social media,” said Randall Zuniga of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency. “They went to Colombia and Europe a lot. They had recorded several trips. She uploaded a lot of photos.”
He was arrested in London on charges of shipping cocaine from Limon, Costa Rica to the United States after law enforcement was able to pinpoint his whereabouts using the photos.
“The DEA had been following Grijalba for several months and were waiting for the international arrest warrant to be ready,” Zuniga added. “They informed us of the arrest, but it was their job. There was no open case in Costa Rica for which he could be arrested.”
Costa Rican Attorney General Carlo Diaz said, “The DEA is not only satisfied with this person serving a criminal sentence, but they also seek to take away all his assets and we are going to collaborate with them.” Grijalba is contesting extradition to the United States.