John McAfee arrested in Guatemala for entering country illegally

John McAfee’s life on the lam may be over, for now. The antivirus software pioneer was arrested by Guatemalan police Wednesday for entering the country illegally. Just hours earlier, he had sought asylum in the country after leaving Belize, where he claimed that he was being persecuted by Belize officials.

With the help of Interpol agents, McAfee was taken into custody at a hotel in a posh part of Guatemala City and moved to a building that houses migrants who have entered illegally, according to the Associated Press.

For weeks, McAfee has refused to turn himself into Belize police, who named him a “person of interest” in the Nov. 11 murder of his neighbor, American expatriate Gregory Faull.

Along the way, he has penned a personal blog detailing his exploits, including elaborate disguises he donned and claims of government corruption, though it remains unclear how much of the self-proclaimed prankster’s accounts are true. Belize officials have said that McAfee is not a suspect in the murder and have denied that they are persecuting him.

It’s unclear how McAfee and his entourage -- consisting of two writers from Vice magazine and a 20-year-old girlfriend -- entered Guatemala, but one of the writers quoted McAfee saying, “We have passports, but we have no entry stamps into Guatemala or exit stamps from Belize.”

Upon his arrival, McAfee acquired a new suit and a lawyer, and held a press conference proclaiming his innocence. “Now that I’m here I can speak freely. I can speak openly,” he said.

Guatemalan Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla told Reuters on Wednesday that they would seek to expel McAfee from the country, but it was not yet clear where he would be sent.

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