Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

After months of harsh criticism and claims of ineffective police work, Peru's national police finally captured the fugitive former police escort known as "Lady B".

Lady Bardales Castillo, a Peruvian policewoman that worked for former president Alejandro Toledo, was captured in a residential district in the northern region of Lambayeque, reported CPN Radio.

It was reported that the former police escort, who provided security for Alejandro Toledo's wife, was found and arrested by police between 4:30 and 5 a.m. in a residential area in Pimentel, a district located in the province of Chiclayo.

The head of Peru's national police, Octavio Salazar explained that police intelligence found Bardales residing with family members and affirmed that she had not put up a struggle while being arrested.

A warrant for her arrest was issued in November 2007 when Bardales did not show up for her sentencing.

She was to be sentenced for illegal enrichment charges but did not appear in court twice, claiming she was sick the first time and disappearing without a trace the second.

Bardales, who has been accused by media of having had an affair with Toledo, was charged with illegal enrichment when she could not demonstrate how she had purchased real estate and was maintaining a lifestyle that was out of the range of a police officer's salary.