Police in Peru have arrested a man suspected of having ordered the killing of two 20-year-old women and a 15-year-old girl in Argentina.
The three were lured to a house near the Argentine capital on 19 September.
Their mutilated bodies were found several days later, and police revealed that their killers had livestreamed their torture and killing on Instagram.
The brutality of the crime has sent shockwaves through the region, with thousands taking part in anti-femicide protests in Buenos Aires on Sunday.
The security minister of Buenos Aires province, Javier Alonso, stated that cousins Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, both 20, and 15-year-old Lara Morena Gutiérrez were deceived by an international drugs gang with promises of payment to attend a party.
CCTV footage captured their abduction in a van with fake number plates, leading police to the house where the murders occurred. Their bodies were ultimately discovered buried in the garden.
The horror of the crime was amplified when it became known that it was broadcast to a closed group of 45 individuals, with a voice in the livestream claiming, this is what happens to those who steal drugs from me.
In the aftermath, Argentine police arrested seven suspects, including those involved in the abduction and burial of the victims. However, Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, also known as Little J, remained on the run until his recent capture on a motorway 70km south of Lima, Peru, hidden in a van transporting fish.
An additional arrest was made of 28-year-old Matías Ozorio, believed to be Valverde's right-hand man, who claimed he was misled by a drug gang that had coerced him into crossing into Peru.
Valverde, a Peruvian national, faces extradition requests pending his detention in Peru, while Ozorio is expected to be handed over to Argentine authorities. Peruvian police traced their communications to facilitate these arrests, and Argentina's security minister has commended their efforts in bringing the suspects to justice.
