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Ecuador Just Captured a Peruvian Drug Trafficker Known as ‘Tony Montana’

Gerald Oropeza is known for his flashy lifestyle and was on the run for months before Ecuadorean authorities captured him on Saturday.
Photo by Eduardo Cavero/EPA

Ecuador has caught and extradited accused Peruvian drug smuggler Gerald Oropeza, the narco also known as "Tony Montana" for his lavish lifestyle and for surviving a car bombing last year. Oropeza was arrested on Saturday by authorities and by Sunday he was on a flight on Lima.

Oropeza, who is accused of running a gang that exported drugs to Italy and other countries, was catapulted to the limelight when his Porsche was bombed in February of 2014. He escaped unharmed but authorities said one of his alleged collaborators was killed days later.

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Video of his arrival in Lima showed him being escorted from a military plane, wearing a bulletproof vest and a helmet.

Nicknamed "Tony Montana" after the flashy protagonist of the movie "Scarface," Oropeza reportedly lived in a 3,000 square meter mansion and owned numerous luxury cars.

Peru is now considered the world's top cocaine producer by both the United States and the United Nations, as reported in the recent VICE News documentary "The New King of Coke." The South American country has struggled to choke the smuggling routes that link its coca-growing regions to Brazil, Europe, Asia and North America.

Related: Sacred Cocaine: Inside the Peruvian Sect Accused of Growing Coca in the Amazon

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Reuters contributed to this story.