SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – A Costa Rican is suspected of being behind the ambush last month that killed Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral and wounded a Nicaraguan businessman who is believed to have been the target, authorities said Tuesday.
Alejandro Jimenez Gonzalez is accused of leading an organized crime group involved in money laundering with operations around Central America, Costa Rican Attorney General Jorge Chavarria told reporters.
Chavarria said authorities believe a rift over a theft of illegal drug money led to the July 9 attack that Guatemalan authorities think was aimed at Henry Farinas, who survived. Farinas was driving Cabral to the airport when they were ambushed.
Costa Rican authorities said they raided five properties Tuesday believed linked to Jimenez or his family. They say he may have fled to Panama.
Three other suspects have been arrested in Guatemala in relation to the attack.
Guatemala's chief prosecutor, Claudia Paz y Paz, has said the men appeared to have had Farinas under surveillance for about a week before the attack.
A Guatemalan investigator, who would not allow his named to be used, has said the suspects told authorities they didn't know the famous folk singer was in the car.
Cabral, who was 74, rose to fame in the early 1970s as part of a generation of singers who mixed political protest with literary lyrics.
