Fugitive on Europe’s most wanted list is captured in Mexico

A Hungarian suspected drug trafficker on the list of Europe’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Mexico, the Latin American country’s public security chief said Saturday.

Janos Balla, also known as Daniel Takacs, was taken into custody in the beach resort city of Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula, Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a post on X, calling the suspect one of Europe’s top 10 most wanted suspects.

Interpol had issued a red notice for Balla, and Europol had issued a formal arrest warrant, his ministry said in a statement.

The Hungarian national, 48, stands accused of running a criminal organization specializing in cocaine and ecstasy trafficking, from at least mid-2014 through April 2015, according to Europol.

Mexican authorities published pictures in which Balla — wearing a shirt with a palm tree pattern and sporting a sparse beard — appears to be escorted by police and security forces.

State and federal authorities in a joint statement said Balla was located thanks to information shared by Hungarian security agencies, as well as intelligence and investigative work. They said he was turned over to Mexico’s immigration agency “to determine his immigration status and continue his controlled deportation process to Europe.”

It was not immediately clear if Balla has legal representation.

Ballo’s capture marks the latest high-profile arrest of a fugitive in Mexico in recent weeks.

In March, a man who wanted in Colombia and Ecuador for the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito in 2023 was arrested in Mexico .

Also last month, a U.S. fugitive was captured in Mexico just over an hour after being added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, making it the fastest arrest time in the history of the list