He had been a fugitive since his name emerged as the alleged mastermind behind the triple narco murder of Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi, and Lara Gutiérrez, the young women found brutally dismembered in a house in Florencio Varela.
His downfall came thanks to an unexpected tip: the cooperation of his most recent partner, who turned him in to the authorities.
El nombre real de Pequeño J es Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano
The operation began last Thursday, when Buenos Aires investigators located a residence that "Pequeño J" was renting in the suburbs, in a housing complex linked to one of his girlfriends.
A first attempt to capture him was staged there and came very close to succeeding. "We arrived three hours after he left the place. We almost caught him at that moment," revealed Buenos Aires Security Minister Javier Alonso in an interview with Todo Noticias.
At that residence, officers found documents, a pistol, ammunition, and clothing that would belong to the suspect. However, the most relevant discovery was the testimony of the young woman with whom he was in a relationship, who not only provided details about his movements but also handed over the cell phone he was using.
Pequeño J se había nacionalizado argentino
That device was key: it allowed investigators to put the number under direct surveillance and, using geolocation antennas, reconstruct his escape route in real time.
Thanks to the phone's interception, Buenos Aires police learned that "Pequeño J" was moving toward the border.
At the same time, officers also managed to intercept the cell phone of Matías Ozorio, his right-hand man, who was also the subject of an international arrest warrant. The wiretap revealed that both were communicating to arrange a meeting, already on Peruvian soil.
It was then that Argentine authorities shared the information with Peru's anti-drug police, who continued the surveillance in coordination with the Buenos Aires force.
"While they were tracking them there, we kept listening to the conversations. That's how we identified the exact meeting point," Alonso explained. It was there that Ozorio was captured.
After arresting his right-hand man, Peruvian police set up an undercover operation. They used Ozorio's cell phone to continue the conversation with "Pequeño J" and pretended the meeting was still on.
The drug trafficker fell into the trap: he showed up at the location without knowing his accomplice was already behind bars. He was intercepted and subdued by special forces, who immediately transferred him to judicial custody.
