.Brazilian police have arrested a man they say is one of the country's biggest international drug traffickers.
The Sao Paulo Public Safety Department said in a statement posted on its website that police caught Brazilian Mario Sergio Machado Nunes on Friday in a luxury apartment in the seaside resort city of Guaruja. Interpol had also issued an arrest warrant for Nunes.
The statement said that for several years Nunes evaded arrest thanks to plastic surgery on his face.
Police inspector Alberto Matheus told reporters Nunes was the head of an international organization that distributed cocaine to 27 countries, including the United States, Spain, Belgium, France and South Africa.
Police said Nunes used to negotiate with the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar of Colombia's Medellin cartel in the 1980s. They say he also worked closely with Henry de Jesus Lopez Londono, who was arrested last year in Buenos Aires. They say Londono headed the Urabenos gang in Colombia.
"He never laid hands on the drugs. He was in charge of administrating the drug shipments in containers," Matheus said.
Police said Nunes financed the construction of a submarine to be used in drug trafficking operations.
Phone calls to the Public Safety and police departments for more details went unanswered on Saturday.
The G1 news portal said the submarine was going to be built in South Africa with Colombian engineers. The submarine was never built.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.