A DRUG cartel kingpin was arrested in the UK after agents tracked his wife’s boasts about their travels.

Luis Grijalba is wanted in the US on charges of exporting cocaine from Costa Rica.

The 43-year-old was held in London after arriving to celebrate the New Year with Estefania McDonald Rodriguez on a £16,000 holiday.

American Drug Enforcement Administration agents had followed her social media posts about visits to the capital, and Paris.

They had to strike while Grijalba was out of Costa Rica, as the nation usually bars extradition of its own.

One picture showed Grijalba, known as Shock, and his wife in a cream fur-collared coat in front of the Eiffel Tower.

They then moved on to the UK where more posts from Estefania gave away their position.

National Crime Agency officers arrested Grijalba near London Bridge.

Randall Zúñiga, of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, said cautious Grijalba often travelled abroad separately from his wife.

Zuniga said: “His wife travelled out of the country a lot and posted about it on social media.

“They went to Colombia and Europe a lot. They had recorded several trips. She uploaded a lot of photos.”

Social media accounts show Estefania posing with parrots on a beach, outside luxury hotels and iconic landmarks.

Zúñiga added: “The DEA had been following Grijalba for several months and were waiting for the international arrest warrant to be ready.

“They informed us of the arrest, but it was their job. There was no open case in Costa Rica for which he could be arrested.”

Grijalba faced Westminster JPs the day after his arrest and is contesting extradition to the US, where he can expect a lengthy jail term.

The case was adjourned until next month.

He has survived two assassination attempts in Costa Rica, including one in which he cowered behind a cherry tree while seven comrades were gunned down.

An NCA spokesman said: “Luis Picado Grijalba, 43, was arrested in the London Bridge area on December 29 and remanded into custody.

“Extradition proceedings are ongoing.”

Drug murders in Costa Rica have soared 60 per cent in a decade.

Limón province, where Grijalba is based, has been worst hit.

Costa Rican Attorney General Carlo Díaz said: “This is an important capture for us, because we had not yet been able to attribute any criminal act to him in our country.

“But I reiterate, he has been linked in some investigations to drug trafficking in Limón.

“The DEA is not only satisfied with this person serving a criminal sentence, but they also seek to take away all his assets and we are going to collaborate with them.”