US drugs kingpin is arrested in UK after his wife posted pictures of their European holidays – allowing detectives to track them down

DAILY MAIL

A drug cartel ringleader has been arrested in the UK – after his wife shared luxury holiday snaps online in plain sight of detectives.

Luis Manuel Picado Grijalbo was grabbed by National Crime Agency officers near London Bridge on December 29 on an international warrant, wanted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on charges of exporting cocaine from Costa Rica.

The country has ben rocked by widespread violence between warring cartels – but rarely allows the extradition of criminals.  Detectives had to wait for the 43-year-old to travel overseas.

In a twist of good fortune, his glamorous wife Estefania McDonald Rodriguez, 32, was sending photos of her travels to her 21,000 followers on Instagram.

Little did she realise that US agents were following every post, waiting for the moment a warrant was issued so they could pounce. The Instagram account has since been deleted.

On Facebook, she posted images of herself at Rome’s Trevi Fountains, captioning the snaps: ‘A trip is lived 3 times: When we dream it, When we live it, When we remember it.’

But a trip to London taken at the end of December to ring in the New Year is one she would likely rather forget.

Grijalba, nicknamed ‘Shock’, normally travelled separately from his wife – but the pair were in the capital on a £16,000 trip that took him from Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaría Airport to Paris and onwards to London.

DEA agents were watching their every move online thanks to Ms Rodriguez’s posts – and with an arrest warrant issued, they asked NCA officers to assist. He was cuffed at an airport, according to Costa Rican authorities.

Randall Zúñiga, director of the Judicial Investigation Agency of Costa Rica (OIJ) – the country’s FBI – confirmed the arrest on his X account.

‘Nicaraguan naturalized Costa Rican Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba, alias “Shock”, was arrested at London airport in a joint effort with the DEA,’ he wrote.

‘His extradition to the US is sought to face charges of international drug trafficking originating from Limón.’