Bolivia hands over Los Pulpos crime boss Jhonsson Pulpo to Peru

After years of searching, Bolivia handed Peru one of its most wanted criminal figures. Jhonsson Cruz Torres, known as Jhonsson Pulpo, was transferred across the border just hours after Bolivian police captured him in La Paz.

The handover took place in Desaguadero, on the shores of Lake Titicaca and at the main land crossing between Bolivia and Peru. Peruvian authorities said Cruz Torres, 29, will first be taken to Lima for legal proceedings. They have not said where he will be imprisoned, although the maximum-security prison at Challapalca is considered a likely destination.

Cruz Torres had an international arrest warrant and a life sentence for a robbery that ended in a merchant’s death. He is also accused of multiple kidnappings and killings in Trujillo, the northern coastal city that serves as the base of the Los Pulpos criminal clan. Another alleged member of the organization, 23-year-old Gabriel Alexander Saúl M.G., was arrested alongside him and was accused of providing assistance.

The capture resulted from joint intelligence work by the police forces of Bolivia and Peru, with support from the FBI delegation in Lima and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators had spent years tracking Cruz Torres. They initially suspected he had moved to Chile with members of his family’s clan, before focusing on Bolivia. His partner, Keysi Salvatierra, was arrested there earlier this year on an international warrant linked to a kidnapping case.

Cruz Torres allegedly tried to evade investigators by faking his death during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He also reportedly underwent several cosmetic surgeries, used multiple false identities and helped expand the criminal clan beyond Trujillo. His father, Jhon Cruz Arce, known as Jhon Pulpo, served 25 years in Challapalca before being released last year.