The Zevallos family decided to incorporate an air taxi company called TAUSA, with the aim of offering aerial services to the villages of the Peruvian jungle which were not served by suitable terrestrial transport.
Fernando Zevallos has been the subject of more than 30 investigations according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, although none of these have led to any criminal charges.
Terry Parham, director of the US Drug Enforcement Administration's Lima office, went on record as describing Zevallos as the "Al Capone of Perú".
The founder of Aero Continente has denied any connection with drug trafficking and has demanded that the United States government show proof of such accusations.
Neither Aero Continente nor its founder Zevallos were ever tried or found guilty of these accusations prior to their addition to the list.
Zevallos has been a Permanent legal resident of the United States for over 15 years and was quoted as calling his inclusion to The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act "unconstitutional" since he was denied his right to due process.
[2] In his home country, Zevallos had faced charges of contract murder, cocaine trafficking and money laundering, but had never been convicted of any such allegation.
In November 2006, accusations emerged to suggest Zevallos had deep links with Peru's disgraced former spy-chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.