The office of the national prosecutor in Nicaragua has brought up Henry Farinas on charges of drug trafficking, involvement in organized crime and money laundering. Farinas was also identified as a one-time partner of Alejandro Jimenez Gonzalez, AKA “El Palidejo”, a Tico businessman who is currently detained in Guatemala on charges of having masterminded a botched assassination that took the life of respected Argentinian troubadour Facundo Cabral.

A previous article in The Costa Rica Star dealt with the events surrounding the demise of Facundo Cabral and the capture of El Palidejo by Colombian authorities.

Facundo Cabral was not the target of the botched assassination allegedly concocted by Palidejo; he was rather collateral damage. Prosecutors in Guatemala have charged the Tico businessman with plotting to kill Henry Farinas over a drug trafficking dispute.

Judge Julio Cesar Arias of the Fifth Criminal Circuit in Nicaragua allowed the detention of Farinas after prosecutors accused him of leading a drug courier ring and stealing from Palidejo, thus invoking the wrath of the Tico businessman.

In an interview with ADN Radio 90.7 FM in Costa Rica, Farinas indicated that his only link to Palidejo was related to the sale of nightclubs in Guatemala. According to Farinas, Palidejo was upset with how the sale was conducted, and thus ordered hitmen to locate him in Guatemala City. During a nighttime highway ambush with assault rifles, Farinas’ vehicle was sprayed with gunfire. He was giving Facundo Cabral a ride to the airport, and the singer did not survive the attack in which Farinas was only wounded.

Farinas was brought before the court in his native Nicaragua on Saturday. At the hearing, prosecuting attorneys stated that an investigation into Farinas’ dealings in drug trafficking dates back to 2010. According to the charge sheet, Palidejo and a Colombian national introduced Farinas to a Mexican trafficking organization named “El Charro” to coordinate the transit of drugs in Central America, with Mexico and the United States as ultimate destinations.

Members of El Charro are currently serving prison time in Nicaragua. Farinas was ordered to be held by Nicaraguan authorities for six months while the case moves forward.  Farinas’ brother Pedro Joaquin was also ordered detained and several arrests have been ordered, according to La Jornada.