Unreal: Argentine drug boss says he identifies as a woman so he can run his gang from jail

Ariel Guille Cantero is serving a 113-year prison sentence in Argentina for drug trafficking. He is the head of the feared Los Monos gang, founded more than 20 years ago in the city of Rosario, Santa Fe. According to reports in recent days, Cantero tried to convince the courts that he identified as a woman in order to receive visits from his henchmen and be able to run his illicit organization from prison.

"The head of Los Monos presented more than ten 'habeas corpus' in which he said that he identified as a woman," said Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich on the local television program "La Cornisa." "We talked to the judges, because it is a lie. They did not accept it." She also assured that, as part of this strategy, Cantero had tried to marry a man. "We didn't let him."

Official sources consulted by Argentine newspaper La Nación said that, given that only relatives can visit him and most are either in prison or dead, Cantero sought to deceive the authorities to expand the number of people to whom he could communicate orders. Only his two brothers and two sons are allowed to see him.

Just two weeks ago, federal prosecutors in Rosario requested a 25-year sentence against the drug lord for ordering the kidnapping for ransom of a young man from prison. Other investigations revealed that Cantero had bribed the jail guards to improve his prison conditions, including extending him an exclusive telephone line.