GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Javier Duarte, the former governor of Mexico’s Veracruz state who is accused of running a corruption ring that allegedly pilfered from state coffers, was detained in Guatemala after six months as a fugitive and high-profile symbol of government graft in his country.
A statement from Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office said Duarte was detained Saturday with the cooperation of Guatemalan police and the country’s Interpol office in the municipality of Panajachel, which is a picturesque tourist town on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala’s highlands.
It said he is wanted on suspicion of money laundering and organized crime, and prosecutors directed the Foreign Relations Department to request Duarte’s extradition via its Guatemalan counterpart.
A photo released by Guatemalan police showed a bespectacled Duarte, clad in a gray shirt and black jacket-vest, being escorted by Interpol agents.
Manuel Noriega, deputy director of Interpol in Guatemala, said Duarte was located at a hotel where he was staying with his wife. He was asked to leave his room, did so voluntarily and then was arrested without incident in the lobby.