Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, wanted in his home country in connection with Latin America's biggest graft scandal, was arrested in California on suspicion of public intoxication and spent the night in jail before he was released Monday morning, authorities said.
Alejandro Toledo, 72, was arrested Sunday night at a restaurant near the San Francisco Bay Area city of Menlo Park, said San Mateo County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Rosemerry Blankswade.
Toledo, who was Peru's president from 2001 to 2006 and has lived in California in recent years, was released without charges Monday morning, which Blankswade said is routine for most public drunkenness arrests.
File - In this April 7, 2011, file photo, Presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo, of the political party Peru Possible, delivers a speech during a campaign rally in Lima, Peru. Authorities say a former Peruvian president who is wanted in connection with Latin America's biggest graft scandal was arrested in California on suspicion of public intoxication over the weekend and was briefly detained. San Mateo County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Rosemerry Blankswade said Monday, March 18, 2019, that Toledo was arrested Sunday night near a restaurant near the San Francisco Bay city of Menlo Park. (AP PhotoMartin Mejia, File)
Toledo is wanted in Peru where authorities have offered a $30,000 reward for his capture. Peruvian prosecutors accuse him with of taking $20 million in bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht while he served as president. He has denied wrongdoing.
Peru is seeking Toledo's extradition from the U.S. In February 2017, then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski asked President Donald Trump to deport the ex-Peruvian president.
Blankswade said the international police organization Interpol had issued a "warning" to law enforcement agencies around the world to notify it if and when Toledo was arrested. But Interpol officials told officials in the sheriff's office they had no immediate plans to extradite Toledo and he was released, she said.
FILE - In this May 24, 2017, file photo, Peru's former President Alejandro Toledo addresses the New Economy Forum Globalization Dialogues at the United Nations in New York. U.S. authorities announced Monday, March 18, 2019 that Toledo, who Peruvian authorities have asked to be extradited for his alleged ties to Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, was released after a brief detention on suspicion of public intoxication in California. (AP PhotoMary Altaffer, File)
"After reaching out to Peruvian officials and Interpol, we learned that the existence of charges in Peru alone does not authorize the subject's arrest in the United States," Blankswade said.
She did not disclose details about what led to officers being sent to the restaurant where Toledo was arrested, and did not name the restaurant.
Interpol officials did not immediately return phone messages left with the organization's U.S. office in Washington D.C. seeking comment
In a statement, Peru's foreign ministry said Toledo's detention "has no relation with the extradition process underway, which is being handled with the utmost zeal and in coordination with various institutions."
Odebrecht in 2016 admitted in a plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to paying some $800 million in bribes to politicians throughout Latin America including $29 million.
The scandal has hit a particularly rough note in Peru, where nearly every living president is suspected or under investigation for ties to Odebrecht.
Former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned last year after opposition lawmakers revealed that his private consulting firm had previously undisclosed ties to the construction giant.
Prosecutors are also investigating ex-President Alan Garcia after revelations that bribes were made during the construction of Lima's subway under his tenure. Former President Ollanta Humala was also briefly jailed in connection with the case.
All of Peru's former presidents have denied wrongdoing.
Toledo was a visiting scholar at Stanford University in 2017.
Associated Press writers Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia and Franklin Briceno in Lima, Peru contributed to this report.
Here’s a rundown of the AP’s latest Election 2024 coverage plans, including live video and text plans, our explanatory journalism and highlights from previous cycles. Candidate schedules are included when available. All times are EDT.
You can find US Election 2024-The Daily Rundown in your CMS or in AP Newsroom.
For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit AP Newsroom’s Coverage Plan. Find our election coverage in the U.S. Elections hub in AP Newsroom.
To sign up for our Politics Advisory, delivered afternoons Monday through Friday to your inbox, click here.
TRUMP TRIAL OPENING-AP EXPLAINS — Opening statements in Donald Trump’s hush money trial set the stage for weeks of testimony about the former president’s personal life and places his legal troubles at the center of his closely contested campaign against President Joe Biden. An AP reporter debrief. Newsroom Ready and Consumer Ready edits.
BIDEN-EARTH DAY — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving households in low- and middle-income communities — while blasting Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. Newsroom Ready and Consumer Ready edits.
President Joe Biden campaigns in Tampa, Florida. Events at 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
++ Candidate schedules are subject to change. Coverage of some events is on merits. ++
7 a.m. — Live NY Trump Pool coverage outside of Trump Tower in New York is planned.
8:30 a.m. — Live NY Trump Pool or Live AP coverage outside of the courthouse in New York is planned.
9 a.m. — Live pool coverage from the courthouse hallway in New York is planned.
4:15 p.m. — Live US Network Pool of President Joe Biden’s campaign event in Tampa, Florida.
TRUMP-HUSH-MONEY-MEDIA-BLOGS — With cameras not allowed at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York, live news blogs are coming into their own as an important news tool. SENT: 710 words, photos.
TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — A longtime tabloid publisher is expected to tell jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign as testimony resumes in the historic hush money trial of the former president. David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, will be back on the stand Tuesday. SENT: 1,160 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 1,200 words after trial resumes at 9:30 a.m.
ELECTION 2024-TRUMP-ELECTION INTERFERENCE — Donald Trump faces serious charges in two separate cases over whether he attempted to subvert the Constitution by overturning the results of a fair election. Yet it’s a New York case centered on payments to silence an adult film star that might provide the only legal reckoning this year. Some legal experts are dubious about attempting to tie a record-keeping case to manipulating an election. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-TRUMP-CAPITOL RIOT-THINGS TO KNOW — The core issue being debated before the Supreme Court on Thursday boils down to this: Whether a former president is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office — and, if so, what is the extent of the immunity? SENT: 1,070 words, photo.
ELECTION 2024-PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania primaries on Tuesday will cement the lineup for a high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to win their presidential nominations easily. SENT: 890 words, photos. Polls close at 8 p.m.
ELECTION 2024-BIDEN-ABORTION — President Joe Biden is heading to Tampa, Florida, to decry the state’s looming six-week abortion ban as his campaign continued to seize on reproductive rights as a key campaign issue. SENT: 890 words, photos, video.
TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. SENT: 1,270 words, photos, video. With TRUMP-HUSH MONEY-TAKEAWAYS — Opening statements provide a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges.
BIDEN-EARTH DAY — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. SENT: 860 words, photos.
Tue., April 23 — Pennsylvania presidential primary.
Sun., April 28 — Puerto Rico Democratic presidential primary.
May 7 — Indiana presidential primary.
May 14 — Maryland presidential primary, Nebraska presidential primary and West Virginia presidential primary.
May 21 — California 20th Congressional District special election, Kentucky presidential primary, Oregon presidential primary.
For coverage and planning questions, the Nerve Center can be reached at +1 800 845 8450 (ext. 1600). For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call +1 844 777 2006.
Former president Donald Trump, center, awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. Opening statements in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial are set to begin. Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he thought might hurt his presidential campaign in 2016. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
