The Narco War in Colombia Is Not Over

The Narco War in Colombia Is Not Over.
Trump’s Policies Are Fueling the Fire.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-n...ver-trumps-policies-are-fueling-the-fire

https://colombiareports.com/medellin-police-gave-mafia-boss-radio-access-intelligence-prosecution/

Medellin mafia boss given police radio and access to intelligence: prosecution

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/colombia-arrests-cop-escobar-money-laundering-53262450

Colombia arrests cop who got Escobar for money laundering

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/gen...0385d2c-994e-40aa-a851-5edc4726b8f0.html

Colombia’s Least-Known But Most-Wanted Public Enemy No. 1

https://colombiareports.com/colombias-establishment-gustavo-petro-dont-get-along/

Why Colombia’s establishment and Gustavo Petro don’t get along

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/colombian-capo-first-extradited-twice-united-states/

Colombia Capo May Be First Ever Extradited to United States, Twice

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/dozens-armed-police-raid-multi-12141712

Dozens of armed police raid multi-million pound mansion of Los Triana 'gang leader' with 'ties to Pablo Escobar'

https://www.fairobserver.com/region...-deal-latin-america-news-analysis-16512/

Will the FARC Suffer Pablo Escobar’s Political Fate?

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/we...marr-Chambers-suspected-drug-dealer-hold

Huge breakthrough over defiant 'Poowatch prisoner' who's gone 47 days without toilet visit

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/08/colombia-should-celebrate-its-women-activists

Colombia Should Celebrate its Women Activists
On International Women’s Day, Remember the Dangers Women Activists Face

http://qcostarica.com/colombian-narco-reveals-route-used-in-costa-rica/

Colombian Narco Reveals Route Used In Costa Rica

https://www.total-croatia-news.com/...st-police-arrests-croatian-escobar-video

Police arrest of Croatian escobar.

https://theaggie.org/2018/03/13/the-glorification-of-narco-culture/

The glorification of narco culture

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...gster-Cuban-spy-tried-buy-submarine.html

How a Miami playboy, a Russian gangster and a Cuban spy plotted to buy a Soviet submarine and sell it to a Colombian cartel: Wild caper revealed as new film interviews cops who tracked them and the trio themselves (including the one still on the run)

https://colombiareports.com/northeast-colombia-honors-killed-eln-guerrilla/

Killed ELN ringleader honored in northeast Colombia town

https://colombiareports.com/colombia-arrests-dissident-farc-narco/

Colombia arrests dissident FARC narco

https://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/invisibles-colombias-new-generation-drug-traffickers/

The Invisibles’: Colombia’s new generation of drug traffickers

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-colombia-attorney-general-idUSKCN1GR2ML

Mexican cartels increasing presence in Colombia: attorney general

https://colombiareports.com/the-alleged-mafiosi-in-colombias-2018-2022-congress/

The alleged mafiosi in Colombia’s 2018-2022 congress

https://cryptocurrencynews.com/daily-news/crypto-news/pablo-escobars/

Pablo Escobar Cryptocurrency – Claims BTC is the CIA’s creation

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/n...by-reducing-the-number-of-murders/26/03/

Legalising cocaine and heroin would boost the economy.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-s...nezuelan-vp-one-hezbollahs-great-bagmen/

Expert: Venezuelan Vice President ‘One of Hezbollah’s Great Bagmen’

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-says-aided-sinaloa-cartel-idUSKBN1H42Z9

Colombia arrests 11 airport workers it says aided Sinaloa cartel

https://inews.co.uk/news/legalising-drugs-heroin-cocaine-jobs-wages/

Legalising drugs such as heroin and cocaine ‘would create jobs and boost wages’

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiller...wig-fainberg-juan-almedia-nelson-yester/

Filmmaker Tiller Russell on chasing the men who sold a submarine to a Colombian drug cartel

https://warisboring.com/the-sinaloa-cartel-is-recruiting-air-traffic-controllers/

The Sinaloa Cartel Is Recruiting Air Traffic Controllers

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/09/cocaine-cowboys-pilot-used-drug-expertise-on-stolen-cars.html

2 years' prison for "cocaine cowboys" pilot for stolen cars

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/inte...ackers-in-colombia-investigation-reveals

Joint US-Colombia probe exposes vast Hezbollah crime network in Americas: report

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ablo-Escobar-inspired-TV-hit-Narcos.html

Real-life investigators who inspired TV hit Narcos say Colombian violence 'was much worse in real life' and drug kingpin Pablo Escobar caused 15,000 deaths before they caught him

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/d...a-new-times-investigation-finds-10249767

New Times Investigation: Drug Traffickers Are Buying Up Planes in South Florida

http://nationalpost.com/news/world/...;utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1523378358

In blow to peace process, Colombia jails ex-rebel leader on U.S. drug trafficking warrant

https://colombiareports.com/witness-in-case-against-colombias-former-president-assassinated/

Witness in case against Colombia’s former president assassinated

https://www.thelibertyconservative....iolence-dilemma-legalize-drugs-and-guns/

Solving Colombia’s Drug Violence Dilemma: Legalize Drugs And Guns

http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/us-flips-key-witness-in-drug-case-against-colombian-rebel

US gains key witness in drug case against Colombian rebel

Alvaro Uribe's father was photographed with Gacha aka El Mexicano.

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/n...amilitary-Testifies---20180417-0026.html

Elites Anxious As Former Colombian Paramilitary Testifies

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/wor...kes-plea-bargain-deal-with-dea-1.3467334

Farc commander’s nephew strikes plea-bargain deal with DEA

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...baron-Pablo-Escobars-GRAVE-Colombia.html

British tourist 'snorts cocaine' off of infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar’s GRAVE in Colombia

http://www.tampabay.com/ex-rebel-le...ap_world681c1bf593ab438f8318d7092e0d3b8f

Ex-rebel leader in Colombia relocates amid talk of arrest

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/us/politics/dea-jose-irizarry-colombia-misconduct.html

D.E.A. Is Investigating a Former Agent on Misconduct Allegations

https://thebogotapost.com/2018/04/2...investigation-ivan-marquez-flees-bogota/

Former FARC leader flees Bogotá as suspicions arise over his involvement in US drugs investigation

https://nypost.com/2018/04/24/notorious-colombian-drug-lord-extradited-to-new-york/

Notorious Colombian drug lord extradited to New York

https://www.rt.com/news/425068-medellin-escobar-lehder-cartel-parties/

Bisexuality, drugs & raffling Swedes: TV star exposes Escobar cartel’s bizarre parties

https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch...lombian-cartel-boss-extradited-to-the-us

Most Feared’ Colombian Cartel Boss Extradited to the US

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...into-farc-void-in-colombia-idUSKBN1HX2BD

Special Report: A fractured peace – violent rivals rush into FARC void in Colombia

https://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/cali-murder-inc-a-colombian-drug-cartel-war-may-be-back-1

Cali Murder Inc, A Colombian Drug Cartel War May Be Back

https://www.straight.com/food/10678...-outside-fraser-street-restaurant-called

Vancouver's Colombian community plans protest outside Fraser Street restaurant called Escobar

https://colombiareports.com/key-wit...lombias-war-crimes-tribunal-to-hear-him/

Key witness against Uribe asks to be heard by Colombia’s war crimes tribunal

https://www.9news.com.au/world/2018/05/02/12/09/us-vet-implanted-puppies-with-drugs-for-cartel

Vet charged with stitching drugs into puppies for Colombian cartel

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/n...-Cartel-Behind-Guacho-20180502-0011.html

Colombian Minister: Sinaloa Cartel Behind Guacho's Group

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/drug-lord-and-world-s-largest-invasive-animal

A drug lord and the world’s largest invasive animal

https://www.footballparadise.com/medellin-adventures-atletico-nacional-and-the-legacy-of-escobar/

Medellin Adventures – The shadow of Pablo Escobar over Colombian football

https://colombiareports.com/who-is-killing-witnesses-against-colombias-former-president/

Who is killing witnesses against Colombia’s former president?

http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-n...nd-owed-colombian-drug-cartels-millions/

VICTIM OF MARBELLA DRIVE-BY WAS ‘COSTA COCAINE KING’ AND ‘OWED COLOMBIAN DRUG CARTELS MILLIONS’

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/05/colombia-election-peace-farc-duque-patro

In Colombia, the Center Isn’t Holding

https://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/seven-reasons-venezuela-mafia-state/

7 Reasons for Describing Venezuela as a ‘Mafia State’

Venezuela does not have a long tradition of organized crime. Indeed, until very recently it was the Colombian mafias who controlled much of the drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping, and these were largely confined to the border states.

Today crime is rampant, and Venezuela is likely the kidnap capital of Latin America, although there is no hard data to support this claim.
For decades Colombia exported conflict and criminality to Venezuela, as that country’s civil conflict spilled over the frontier. Colombian drug trafficking organizations and warring factions set up shop, turning Venezuela into a logistics base, safe haven and one of the principal transit nations for Colombian cocaine.

https://dialogo-americas.com/en/art...ounter-terrorism-operations-along-border

Colombia and Ecuador Increase Counter-terrorism Operations along Border

https://colombiareports.com/is-colombias-justice-system-too-weak-to-try-the-powerful-uribe/

Is Colombia’s justice system too weak to try the powerful Uribe?

Geez, I never knew this about Uribe.. I thought he was such a crime fighter when he was president, if this is all true, he is one big hypocritical cocksucker. Even for a politician..

You can say the same about the Americans who worked with them, they knew this in 1991, months after the Ochoa brothers and Escobar turned themselves in, Uribe’s ties had been picked up by the US ‘ Defense Intelligence Agency, which claimed the then-senator was “dedicated to collaboration with the Medellin Cartel,” according to declassified documents.

Yeah H, I wonder why I'm still surprised.. These things keep on happening, since time immemorial..

https://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/colombia-venezuela-criminal-siamese-twins/

Colombia and Venezuela: Criminal Siamese Twins

http://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/world-cup-escobar-murdered-after-colombias-exit-in-1994

WORLD CUP: Escobar murdered after Colombia's exit in 1994

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/8102-report-in-venezuela-cartels-are-part-of-regime

Report: In Venezuela, Cartels Are Part of Regime

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/704037/Steve-Murphy-Pablo-Escobar-killed

'No words to describe how evil Escobar was’, cop who took out drugs kingpin speaks out

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-backpackers-abducted-by-drugs-cartel-in-colombian-jungle/

Israeli backpackers abducted by drugs cartel in Colombian jungle

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/colombia-dismantle-underground-drug-lab-ex-farc-mafia/

Colombia Dismantles Underground Drug Lab Linked to Ex-FARC Mafia

https://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/dominican-republic-venezuela-cocaine-across-caribbean/

Dominican Republic and Venezuela: Cocaine Across the Caribbean

http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top...on-frontrunner-could-spark-war-1-5532236

Colombia’s election frontrunner could send country back to war

https://www.foxsports.com.au/footba...b2098ed5a9ec2f24faa116a504cc5-1527176724

World Cup flashback: Andres Escobar’s deadly own goal at the 1994 World Cup in the USA

https://www.timesofisrael.com/guide-who-helped-free-israelis-from-colombian-kidnappers-found-dead/

Guide who helped free Israelis from Colombian kidnappers found dead

https://colombiareports.com/ivan-duque-the-mafias-puppet/

Ivan Duque, the mafia’s puppet?

“Popeye,” once one of Pablo Escobar’s most prolific hitmen, arrested in Colombia on extortion charges http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profil...-escobar-s-most-prolific-hitmen-arrested

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/n...n-Cartel-Money-Report-20180525-0013.html

Ex Colombian President Uribe Campaigned on Cartel Money: Report

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/n...residential-Campaigns-20180527-0013.html

5 Scandals that Marked Colombian Presidential Campaigns

https://colombiareports.com/uribe-rejects-us-cartel-claims-as-fake-news/

Uribe rejects US cartel claims as ‘fake news’

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12061262

Jalisco's governor: Cartel hired Colombian ex-soldiers

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-a-ray-of-hope-for-the-cocaine-camp-kids-1.23321483

Jack Knox: A ray of hope for the cocaine-camp kids

https://fisherbusinessnews.com/2018...ombia-jails-ex-rebel-on-us-drug-warrant/

In blow to peace, Colombia jails ex-rebel on US drug warrant

Óscar Mauricio Pachón, aka Puntilla, is the top guy now he worked for both the Medellin and later the Cali cartel.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-cuba-helped-make-venezuela-a-mafia-state

How Cuba Helped Make Venezuela A Mafia State

https://thebogotapost.com/2018/06/0...against-humanity-supreme-court-declares/

Historic paramilitary massacres are “crimes against humanity”, Supreme Court declares

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/968852/cocaine-hotlines-boom-drug-gangs-heroin-crime

Cocaine hotlines boom

https://colombiareports.com/murder-...ghts-citys-problem-with-social-violence/

Murder of Cali soccer player highlights city’s problem with social violence

http://wlrn.org/post/medell-ns-narco-tours-legitimate-history-or-offensive-glorification-monsters

Medellín's Narco Tours: Legitimate History Or Offensive Glorification Of Monsters?

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/n...-24-Hours-in-Colombia-20180603-0013.html

Four Social Leaders, Activists Killed in Colombia in 24 Hours

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article212293514.html

In chaotic Venezuela, guerrillas from Colombia find new territory to grow

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...amily-Colombias-Serna-charged-probe.html

Pablo Escobar's wife and son are charged over their links to a money laundering operation for a Colombian drug dealer, alongside a former international soccer star

https://colombiareports.com/colombi...be-tied-to-violence-and-organized-crime/

Colombia’s emerald industry continues to be tied to violence and organized crime

The widow of Pablo Escobar and her son are in prison in Argentina for suspicion of money laundering. Victoria Henao, Juan Pablo Escobar Henao and also football player Mauricio Serna are suspected by several media in a study of a Colombian drug lord.
An investigating judge in Argentina suspects Henao of membership of a criminal organization that laundered criminal money. They would have worked for Colombian drug suspect José Piedrahita. They managed real estate and a well-known tango café.
The ties between the Escobar family and Argentina have been around for a long time. Henao and her son changed their name and settled in that country in the nineties. They are called María Isabel Santos Caballero and Juan Sebastián Marroquín Santos. Henao had been detained for some time in 1999.
Mauricio "Chicho" Serna used to play with Boca Juniors, the characteristic club from Buenos Aires and won the Copa Libertadores in 2000 and 2001. In 1998 he played for Colombia at the World Championships in France.

https://colombiareports.com/colombi...ed-farc-involvement-in-drug-trafficking/

Colombia receives DEA evidence of alleged FARC involvement in drug trafficking

https://dialogo-americas.com/en/articles/colombia-closes-sea-routes-international-narcotrafficking

Colombia Closes Sea Routes to International Narcotrafficking

https://colombiareports.com/former-employees-confirm-uribes-brother-led-death-squad/

Former employees confirm Uribe’s brother led death squad

http://valdostatoday.com/2018/06/me...r-drug-trafficking-and-money-laundering/

Valdez-Villareal obtained cocaine from Colombia, exported the cocaine from Mexico to customers located in the U.S. in tractor trailer loads of up to 300 kilograms twice per week

https://colombiareports.com/petro-vows-to-defend-uribe-from-extradition/

Petro vows to defend Uribe from extradition

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/wor...on-of-fear-for-those-who-live/?cmpid=rss

Colombia’s peace deal brings a new season of fear for those who live in areas once controlled by FARC

Turin businessman and wife killed in ambush in Colombia

Roberto Gaiottino, a 44-year-old construction contractor from Barbania, and his wife Claudia Patricia Zabala Dominguez, 36, were killed Saturday evening in Colombia at the exit of a restaurant on Circunvalar de Pereira Avenue in Risaralda, the city of Claudia Patricia.

The two, married since 2015 but together for a longer time, had just had dinner with a Colombian friend who remained unharmed in the shooting, which caused panic among passers-by. On the matter the federal police excludes robbery, leaning towards a targeted ambush.

Roberto Gaiottino belongs to a dynasty of building contractors who has long expanded the interests of his business to Colombia, while Claudia lived in Italy - in Barbania - for 15 years and often returned to Colombia to find family members. The bodies will be repatriated for the funeral in Barbania where the couple, who had no children, lived in a villa in the center.

https://newrepublic.com/article/149185/colombia-keeps-electing-presidents-tied-murderers

Why Colombia Keeps Electing Presidents Tied to Murderers

https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...n-sentenced-31-years-conspiracy-55995193

Colombian drug kingpin caught in Argentina gets 31 years

https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/innovation-in-the-war-on-drugs-narcosubs#gs.YS1cDK0

Innovation in the War on Drugs: Narcosubs

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...us-helped-broker-peace-deal-dhs-official

Cocaine production in Colombia has increased five-fold since US helped broker peace deal: DHS official

https://www.rt.com/sport/430469-colombia-carlos-sanchez-death-threats/

Colombian police probe Sanchez death threats after star’s World Cup red card

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local...o-Over-30-Years-in-Prison-485902401.html

Colombian Drug Kingpin Who Became Informant Against 'El Chapo' Sentenced to Over 30 Years in Prison

Not suprising many dangerous people are upset.

https://inhomelandsecurity.com/persistent-evolving-threat-colombian-cocaine-united-states/

The Persistent and Evolving Threat of Colombian Cocaine into the United States

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_8b4dc386-7622-11e8-8297-83cf952b58b3.html

Lawsuit by slain drug smuggler Barry Seal's daughter over movie deal dismissed

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/zm87j9/the-own-goal-that-led-to-murder

The Own Goal That Led to Murder
A tale of two Escobars.

https://sputniknews.com/art_living/201806251065759697-colombian-drug-mansion-becomes-hostel/

In the Caribbean coastal city of Santa Marta, Colombia, Sputnik Mundo discovered a gigantic mansion once belonging to a drug cartel, which had been converted into unique lodging for tourists.

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/a...r-colombia-venezuela-border-communities/

EPL Urban Militia Sows Fear in Colombia-Venezuela Border Communities

https://colombiareports.com/pablo-escobars-former-hitman-financed-duque-coalition-congress-campaign/

‘Pablo Escobar’s former hitman financed Duque coalition congress campaign’

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/b...ion-hits-new-record-high-us-figures-say/


Cocaine production hits an all time high in Colombia. Increased by 19 percent from last year.


How is it that even thou all the big cartels seems to loose power, the cocaine production rises every year. Could it be that European groups plays a much larger role in the coke trade than before?

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n13/gwen-burnyeat/short-cuts

Short Cuts

I personally think that when one cartel becomes weak due to police arrests,raids or other; there is always another cartel ready to pick up the slack. When there is too much money at play you will always find someone to fill the void.

https://www.americanthinker.com/art...ill_the_void_in_a_postfarc_colombia.html

Mexican Cartels Fill the Void in a Post-FARC Colombia

Always wondered how it is Colombia that managed to spawn such top tier criminal organizations in the region. Other South American nations like Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Venezuela...face similar problems in regards to poverty, especially Venezuela seems to be an even more violent nation and the cultivation of coca takes place the most in Bolivia or Peru. Yet organized crime syndicates in those other South American nations are not as widespread and not as notorious as the Colombians'.

You make a very good point. Possibly, Colombians have better entrepreneurial skills ?

The Colombians have connections to US and Europe, thanks to the CIA.

https://intomore.com/impact/the-forgotten-lgbtq-victims-of-colombias-civil-war

The Forgotten LGBTQ Victims of Colombia’s Civil War

https://www.twincities.com/2018/07/...the-fallen-was-to-get-the-newspaper-out/

Rosario: The best tribute to the fallen was to get the newspaper out

https://www.thecanary.co/global/wor...sonment-of-a-blind-colombian-peacemaker/

Unite denounces the imprisonment of a blind Colombian peacemaker

https://www.colombiafocus.com/nearl...d-this-year-after-ana-maria-cortes-death

Nearly 100 Colombian social leaders have been killed this year after Ana María Cortes’ death

https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Biggest-Colombian-Cocaine-Cartel-Close-to-13065972.php

Biggest Colombian cocaine cartel close to surrender, Santos says

https://thebogotapost.com/2018/07/1...n-the-dangers-of-journalism-in-colombia/

“What’s safe and what’s not safe in Colombia is more confused now than it has been for years”: The New York Times’ Nicholas Casey on the dangers of journalism in Colombia

https://herb.co/marijuana/news/medellin-colombia-marijuana-home-grows-londono/

Inside Colombia’s Hidden Home Grows

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/opinion/venezuela-maduro-the-new-regional-crime-hub.html

Venezuela, the New Regional Crime Hub

Good article. Considering the economic situation and who is in power there, plus taking into account their history, it will likely get worse. The people are eating zoo animals.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...la-zoo-animals-to-eat-them-idUSKCN1AW2NN

I agree, things will get worse.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-...g-gangs-now-fight-for-control-1531733400

Where Colombian Rebels Once Ruled, Drug Gangs Now Fight for Control

https://au.news.yahoo.com/former-fa...ayal-declines-senate-161956926--spt.html

Former FARC leader accuses government of 'betrayal', declines Senate seat

http://www.kxii.com/content/news/Ma...ment-files-for-bankruptcy-488332721.html

Man behind Fannin County's Trident Lakes development files for bankruptcy

http://www.wilx.com/content/news/US...inst-Honduran-congressman-488446261.html

US announces drug charges against Honduran congressman

http://time.com/5342766/ivan-duque-colombia/

Ivan Duque is Colombia's Youngest President-Elect Ever. Now He Has to Fix the Divided Country

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opi...s-violent-crisis-rests-in-ortegas-hands/

The only way out of Nicaragua’s violent crisis rests in Ortega’s hands

https://colombiareports.com/ivan-duques-cabinet-colombias-new-bosses/

Ivan Duque’s cabinet, Colombia’s new bosses

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-son-murdered-farmer-defy-paramilitaries

'This is a last hold-out': Son of a murdered farmer in Colombia

https://nationalpost.com/feature/on...co-making-a-killing-from-colombias-peace

ON THE TRAIL OF 'GUACHO,' THE NARCO MAKING A KILLING FROM COLOMBIA'S PEACE PROCESS

http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-kidnapping-scam-20180724-story.html

An express train to hell: When the caller says your child has been kidnapped

https://wset.com/news/local/ice-ms-...-fugitives-arrested-during-ice-operation

ICE: MS-13 gang members, sex offenders, fugitives arrested during ICE operation

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/...led-opiates-into-miami-feds-say-10560170

Colombian Drug Kingpins Smuggled Oxycodone Pills into Miami, Feds Say

https://colombiareports.com/colombias-former-president-resigns-from-senate-over-murder-trial/

Colombia’s former president resigns from senate over trial including murder charges

https://colombiareports.com/uribe-t...ent-in-crisis-even-before-taking-office/

How Uribe trial puts Colombia’s government in crisis even before taking office

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/colombia-journalists-death-threats-duque

Colombian journalists say death threats reflect 'ugly' climate since presidential election

https://colombiareports.com/uribe-will-he-resign-or-face-colombias-supreme-court/

Uribe: will he resign or face Colombia’s Supreme Court?

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/cri...y-deciding-fate-chinese-captain-mechanic

Cocaine plucked from high seas is shown to North Texas jury deciding fate of Chinese captain, mechanic

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman....f-41m-private-jet-cocaine-plot-1-4776062

Gang accused of £41m private jet cocaine plot

France, West Germany, the Netherlands and Italy seized only between 500 and 600 kilograms apiece in 1988, now that is ONE shipment.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/cri...ry-trying-smuggle-cocaine-across-pacific

North Texas jury convicts Chinese captain, mechanic of trying to smuggle cocaine across Pacific

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/feat...er-and-cocaine-to-colombia-s-rebel-zones

‘Peace’ Brings More Murder and Cocaine to Colombia’s Rebel Zones

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/colombia-president-duque-5-hot-potatoes/

Colombia President Duque’s 5 ‘Hot Potatoes’

New Colombian president vows drug crackdown

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/07/new-colombian-president-vows-drug-crackdown/

LOL

https://colombiareports.com/medellin-police-department-accused-of-kidnapping-and-extortion/

Medellin police department accused of kidnapping and extortion

https://globalcompetitionreview.com/article/1173181/construction-cartel-challenged-in-colombia

Construction cartel challenged in Colombia

https://colombiareports.com/former-politicians-linked-to-pablo-escobars-killing-of-justice-minister/

Former politicians linked to Pablo Escobar’s killing of justice minister

https://www.janes.com/article/82412/violent-risks-intelligence-bulletin-15-august-2018

Violent risks intelligence bulletin – 15 August 2018

https://www.wetalkuav.com/drones-finding-success-poisoning-colombian-cocaine-crops/

Drones finding success poisoning cocaine producing crops in Colombia

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/a...lliances-fuel-colombia-criminal-shakeup/

Shifting Ex-FARC Mafia Alliances Fuel Colombia Criminal Shakeup

http://www.tbreporter.com/courts/tampa-federal-jury-convicts-colombian-cocaine-smuggling/

AMPA FEDERAL JURY CONVICTS COLOMBIAN IN COCAINE SMUGGLING

https://nypost.com/2018/04/24/notorious-colombian-drug-lord-extradited-to-new-york/


Notorious Colombian drug lord extradited to New York

US Special Forces soldier investigated for smuggling millions of dollars of drugs

https://www.businessinsider.nl/army...work-2018-8/?international=true&r=UK

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/a...uel-smuggling-colombia-venezuela-border/

New Criminal Group Runs Fuel Smuggling at Colombia-Venezuela Border

Colombia Arrests 14 Members of the Gulf Clan Gang

https://www.plenglish.com/index.php...arrests-14-members-of-the-gulf-clan-gang

https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/02/brit...50000000-of-cocaine-as-dog-food-7904984/

British Colombian drug cartel disguised £350,000,000 of cocaine as dog food

https://www.businessinsider.com/arm...rafficking-may-be-part-of-network-2018-8

A Special Forces soldier is being investigated for smuggling millions of dollars of drugs — and it may be part of a much bigger scheme

https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/08/31/inenglish/1535708632_118999.html

Why Pablo Escobar is anything but cool

https://www.trtworld.com/americas/colombia-kills-most-dangerous-farc-dissident-20093

Colombia kills 'most dangerous' FARC dissident

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/phot...lombia-s-former-farc-rebels-are-rearming

The Mountains Where Colombia’s Former FARC Rebels Are Rearming

https://www.hotcars.com/10-cars-from-el-chapos-collection-vs-10-from-pablo-escobars/

10 Cars From El Chapo's Collection vs 10 From Pablo Escobar's

https://www.france24.com/en/20180916-eln-guerrillas-kidnap-teen-girl-colombia

ELN guerrillas kidnap teen girl in Colombia

http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-n...tailing-how-the-criminal-industry-works/

TOP ‘NARCO’ REVEALS HOW 30% OF COCAINE PROFITS IN SPAIN SPENT BRIBING POLICE AND PORT WORKERS IN EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW DETAILING HOW THE CRIMINAL INDUSTRY WORKS

https://www.illicit-trade.com/2018/...ar-cocaine-plot-after-extradition-to-us/

Colombian drug gang kingpin charged with multi-million dollar cocaine plot after extradition to US

Colombia continues to break records for cocaine production, report says
The South American nation produced a record estimated 1,379 tonnes of cocaine last year – up 31% on 2016

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/19/colombia-cocaine-production-breaks-record

https://torontosun.com/news/weird/p...wcm/84a9bdca-f7d6-44ee-baa7-9a2ca29b375e

Pablo Escobar museum shut down by Colombian police

Last week a joint action by the Colombian and Spanish police led to the arrest of Edilia Vargas (aka "La Pibe"), who coordinated the cocaine shipments in fruit loads to Europe, the investigation to find the location of Vargas took a year. The intelligence services discovered that Vargas had arrived in Colombia, accompanied by her two sons and her partner, with the aim of visiting some relatives.
The partner of Vargas is a Spanish citizen and would be involved in the cocaine trade in the service of drug traffickers in Europe.

https://www.newsweek.com/colombia-detains-27-members-liquid-cocaine-smuggling-cartel-1140273

LIQUID COCAINE CARTEL THAT SMUGGLED DRUGS INTO U.S. CANADA AND EUROPE DETAINED IN COLOMBIA

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/c...atthew-donahue-brian-mcknight-watchdogs/

Flood of Colombian cocaine headed to Chicago, other big U.S. cities, DEA says

https://www.illicit-trade.com/2018/...pies-bellies-for-colombian-drugs-cartel/

Venezuelan vet pleads guilty to sewing heroin into puppies’ bellies for Colombian drugs cartel

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/colombia-seize-first-assets-linked-ex-farc-mafia/

Colombia Seizes First Assets Linked to Ex-FARC Mafia

https://www.plenglish.com/index.php...ng-cell-dismantled-near-colombian-border

Panama: Drug Trafficking Cell Dismantled Near Colombian Border

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pablo-escobars-grave

Pablo Escobar's Grave

The drug trafficker Miro Niemeier Risvanovic, called 'The Russian', was found dead in Pereira, the Colombian city of the so-called Triangle of coffee: the local press reported, pointing out that the man, of Bosnian-German origin, would have been murdered together with his partner. Risvanovic in August last year was extradited from Italy after his capture in Civitavecchia by Interpol on charges of drug trafficking. According to the newspaper El Tiempo, Risvanovic was linked to Dairo Antonio Usuga, head of the Gulf Clan, a Colombian paramilitary organization dedicated to drug trafficking and other criminal activities. But Risvanovic would also have been the liaison between the Colombian mafia and the Calabrian 'ndrangheta, with the task of "coordinating the transport and distribution of drugs from South America to Europe", reports the daily El Diario.

An international drug-trafficking soccer hooligan network

https://www.opendemocracy.net/democ...drug-trafficking-soccer-hooligan-network

According to a report by the Spanish authorities, they are worried about the increasing activity of Colombian criminal groups.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ction-idUSKCN1N64GA?utm_source=applenews

Drug cartels test Central America for cocaine production

Pablo Escobar’s widow recalls forced abortion in new book

https://nypost.com/2018/11/08/pablo-escobars-widow-recalls-forced-abortion-in-new-book/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ar-Colombia-Tom-Chandler-Narco-Wars.html

'The Brit' who took on the Colombian cartels: How ex-VAT tax inspector led team of Britons to take on murderous crime lords and seize £3bn of drugs

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...Dominican-Republic-serving-20-years.html

'Cocaine Cowboy' who helped smuggle drugs worth $2billion into the US is deported to the Dominican Republic after serving 15 years in jail

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/drug-regulation-organized-crime/

Can Drug Regulation Help Tackle Organized Crime?

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/a...-new-possibilities-colombia-traffickers/

European Cocaine Seizures Hint at New Possibilities for Colombia Traffickers

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-Pablo-Escobar-dies-shootout-police.html

Pablo Escobar's apprentice turned kingpin, 58, who was wanted for drug trafficking and murder, dies in shootout with police after coming out of hiding to spend the night with his beauty queen girlfriend, 26

https://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2018/12/04/pablo-escobars-cocaine-hippos-thriving-colombia/

Pablo Escobar’s ‘Cocaine Hippos’ Are Thriving in Colombia

https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/324251

15 Biggest Money-Making Criminals of All Time

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/drug-lord-pablo-escobar-s-former-home-used-to-remember-cartel-s-victims

Drug lord Pablo Escobar's former home used to remember cartel's victims

The Moroccan intelligence service BCIJ arrested a Colombian last weekend. He would have been busy preparing the construction of runways meant for large-scale cocaine smuggling. His arrest came a few days after one ton of coke had been seized by the Moroccan authorities last week.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-s...tells-how-i-blew-up-more-than-100-people

The Sicario’s Tale, Part 1: Pablo Escobar’s Top Hitman Tells ‘How I Blew Up More Than 100 People’

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-sicarios-tale-part-2-inside-pablo-escobars-cocaine-air-force

The Sicario’s Tale, Part 2: Inside Pablo Escobar’s Cocaine Air Force

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-s...s-deadly-crack-habit-with-blow-and-blood

The Sicario’s Tale, Part 3: Feeding America’s Deadly Crack Habit With Blow and Blood

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-sicarios-tale-part-4-the-cuckold-who-brought-down-the-cartels

The Sicario’s Tale, Part 4: The Cuckold Who Brought Down the Cartels

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...cobars-GRAVE-says-stunt-cost-family.html

British tourist, 35, filmed snorting cocaine off infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar’s GRAVE says the stunt has cost him his family and landed him with death threats

https://www.foxnews.com/world/colom...distrust-drugs-and-the-venezuelan-regime

Colombia’s peace agreement bloodied by distrust, drugs - and the Venezuelan regime

https://people.com/tv/vh1-cartel-crew-michael-blanco-cocaine-godmother-interview/

Michael Blanco, Son of 'Cocaine Godmother,' Explains Why He Abandoned the 'Cartel Lifestyle'

https://www.foxnews.com/us/veteran-...bia-drug-cartels-to-launder-more-than-7m

Veteran 'star' DEA agent conspired with Colombia drug cartels to launder more than $7M

https://triblive.com/usworld/world/...lled-in-car-bombing-in-colombian-capital

9 dead in car bombing at police academy in Colombia capital

A joint police operation undertaken by Portuguese, Colombian and Spanish security forces dismantled one of Europe's largest clandestine cocaine re-processing laboratories in a chalet in El Puig (Valencia) and arrested 11 gang-members of Spanish, Colombian and Albanian nationality in an operation spanning Spain's provinces of Madrid, Malaga, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, and Pontevedra.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-Dominican-Republic-using-fake-name.html

'He lived like a king': Colombian gang leader know as 'Machete' who 'ordered at least FORTY-THREE assassinations in just 18 months' is arrested in the Dominican Republic living in a luxury mansion under a fake identity

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/...aptop-then-snitched-on-his-own-assassins

A Drug Kingpin Ran His Empire from a Laptop, Then Snitched on His Own Assassins

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ing-burger-topped-line-white-powder.html

Pop-up bar named after infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar stirs controversy with burger topped with a line of white powder and a rolled-up fake $100 note

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/01/29/inenglish/1548758371_648245.html

Spain becomes Europe’s top interceptor of cocaine

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/caparrapos-thriving-colombia-alliances/

Caparrapos Thriving in Colombia Due to Alliances With ELN, Ex-FARC Mafia

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/organized-crime-medellin-murders/

Medellín Sees Murders Rise After Years of Declining Violence

http://www.ekathimerini.com/237433/...-behind-2017-murder-of-belgian-in-athens

Colombian drug cartel seen behind 2017 murder of Belgian in Athens

https://road.cc/content/news/255916-colombian-ex-pro-cyclist-arrested-italy-dealing-cocaine

Colombian ex-pro cyclist arrested in Italy for dealing cocaine

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/a...voluntary-substitution-efforts-colombia/

Aggressive Coca Eradication Threatens Voluntary Substitution Efforts in Colombia

https://www.dw.com/en/colombia-to-demolish-pablo-escobars-former-fortress-home/a-47624389

Colombia to demolish Pablo Escobar's former fortress home

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/medellin-razes-pablo-escobar-s-home-in-symbol-of-rebirth-1.4308567

Medellin razes Pablo Escobar's home in symbol of rebirth

https://www.ozy.com/provocateurs/meet-the-colombian-el-chapo-otoniel/92754

MEET THE COLOMBIAN EL CHAPO — ‘OTONIEL

http://www.manilastandard.net/news/...-drug-cartel-active-in-ph-pdea-says.html

Colombian drug cartel active in PH, PDEA says

Many Colombian drug lords and Paramilitaries have been released from US prisons. They could have a violent impact on the country’s already volatile criminal landscape.

https://colombiareports.com/is-the-dea-trying-to-undermine-colombias-war-crimes-tribunal/

Is the DEA trying to undermine Colombia’s war crimes tribunal?

https://news.co.cr/in-last-10-days-costa-rican-authorities-seized-6-4-tons-of-cocaine/78993/

In Last 10 Days Costa Rican Authorities Seized 6.4 Tons of Cocaine

https://coconuts.co/manila/news/block-suspected-cocaine-found-floating-catanduanes-waters/

Block of suspected cocaine found floating in Catanduanes waters

https://colombiareports.com/how-to-...l-country-and-get-away-with-it-part-iii/

How to steal land the size of a small country and get away with it | Part III

https://colombiareports.com/how-to-steal-land-the-size-of-a-small-country-and-get-away-with-it/

How to steal land the size of a small country and get away with it | Part I

https://colombiareports.com/how-to-...ll-country-and-get-away-with-it-part-ii/

How to steal land the size of a small country and get away with it | Part II

“El Doctor” from Cali, Colombia charged with international money laundering and cocaine trafficking http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profil...ternational-money-laundering-and-cocaine

https://colombiareports.com/2nd-wit...s-to-testify-before-war-crimes-tribunal/

2nd witness claiming Uribe founded death squad wants to testify before war crimes tribunal

https://panampost.com/editor/2019/03/18/farc-dissident-groups-expand-criminal-empire-from-venezuela/

FARC Dissident Groups Expand Criminal Empire from Venezuela

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...extradition-U-S-cocaine-trafficking.html

Colombian soccer star who played in the Premier League and La Liga is arrested and set to be extradited to the U.S. for 'trafficking five kilos of cocaine over ten years'

https://colombiareports.com/magistr...-worked-for-his-defense-attorney-report/

Magistrate investigating Uribe never told Supreme Court she worked for his defense attorney: report

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that his government captured the head of the Colombian criminal gang Los Rastrojos.

https://www.latimes.com/efe-3933404-15258924-20190324-story.html

https://colombiareports.com/how-col...ost-effect-since-duque-took-took-office/

How Colombia’s counternarcotics efforts lost effect since Duque took office

https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/colombias-inspector-general-corruption-new-cartel

Colombia’s Inspector General: “Corruption Is the New Cartel”

https://www.foxnews.com/world/more-...l-surge-in-cocaine-traffic-from-colombia

More Mexico plane crashes signal surge in cocaine traffic from Colombia

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/honduran-cocaine-kingpin-gets-37-year-sentenc-587141.html

Honduran Cocaine Kingpin Gets 37 Year Sentence For Pouring Drugs Into US - Justice Dept.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...n-prison-for-trafficking-cocaine-into-us

Honduran drug cartel kingpin gets 37 years in prison for trafficking cocaine into US

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/04/why-medellin-blew-up-pablo-escobars-house

“SO MUCH PAIN STILL EXISTS”: WHY MEDELLÍN BLEW UP PABLO ESCOBAR’S HOUSE

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8849466/pablo-escobar-gardener-evicted-la-manuela-retreat/

NATURAL LAWN KILLER Pablo Escobar’s gardener finally evicted from drug lord’s once glamorous holiday retreat La Manuela after living there for 30 years

https://www.fool.ca/2019/04/15/the-irony-of-colombias-nascent-pot-boom/

The Irony of Colombia’s Nascent Pot Boom

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/heres-what-legal-market-for-cocaine-could-look-like/

Op-Ed: Here’s What a Legal Market for Cocaine Could Look Like

https://www.9news.com.au/world/pabl...bia/67598d94-72fd-4d07-8c54-9f423ee318f2

Agent who took down Pablo Escobar describes moment drug king was killed

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article230268389.html

Colombian cartel boss pleads guilty to bribing U.S. agent to get drug charges dropped

http://theowp.org/minatitlan-and-a-sad-history-of-massacres/

Minatitlán And A Sad History Of Massacres

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/la-linea-gang-colombia-venezuela-border/

La Línea’ Gang Takes Deadly Hold on Colombia-Venezuela Border

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/medellin-oficina-envigado-capos-shuffle-game/

For Medellín’s Oficina Capos, the Shuffle is Part of the Game

https://www.kxii.com/content/news/T...to-be-extradited-to-Texas-510543771.html

Thirteen Colombians, some part of drug cartels, to be extradited to Texas

https://colombiareports.com/is-this-the-new-medellin-cartel/

Is this the new Medellin Cartel?

From what I´ve heard the nightlife of Medellin is amazing.

https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/w...run-by-24-year-old-mr-big-ng-b881224421z

WA police smash criminal empire run by 24-year-old known as ‘The Kid’

Medellin’s ‘top mafia boss’ arrested

https://colombiareports.com/medellins-top-mafia-boss-arrested/

https://colombiareports.com/one-of-colombias-most-wanted-narcos-killed-by-police/

‘Chucho Mercancia’, one of Colombia’s most wanted narcos, killed by police

In an international partnership between the Colombian authorities and Europol under the name Operation Tayrona, 19,522 kilos of cocaine was intercepted. It concerns 140 different shipments. In total almost 600 arrests were made.

More than 100 weapons and 14,000 items of ammunition were seized. Rocket launchers and grenades were also found. Operation Tayrona, which set up a command center in Bogota, Colombia and one in The Hague, Holland, ran from 8 March to 16 June.

Europol has not disclosed anything about the identity of the more than 500 suspects.

https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/5m-reward-for-one-of-deas-most-wanted

Huge reward for one of DEA's most wanted drug lord Otoniel

Atlantic County man killed in Colombia in targeted hit.

https://www.breakingac.com/2019/06/atlantic-county-man-killed-colombia/

https://www.thesun.ie/news/4269777/irish-man-cocaine-gun-arrest-spain/

COKE & GUN BUST Irish fugitive who ‘led gang with Colombian cartels to smuggle tonnes of cocaine to UK’ nabbed in Spain

Interesting those former paramilitaries are very low key.

https://colombiareports.com/one-of-...ds-protected-by-the-military-for-months/

One of Colombia’s most wanted drug lords ‘protected by the military for months’

https://world.greekreporter.com/2019/06/29/roberto-escobar-pablos-brother-tells-his-story/

Roberto Escobar: Pablo’s Brother Tells His Story

https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/key-arrests-reveal-constru-quiet-rise-power-colombia/

Allies in High Places Behind ‘La Constru’ Rise in Colombia

https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/15/drug...-pablo-escobars-brother-claims-10319181/

Drug smugglers are using Tesla’s Autopilot to dodge the police, Pablo Escobar’s brother claims

https://colombiareports.com/how-colombias-booming-drug-trade-is-threatening-democracy/

How Colombia’s booming drug trade is threatening democracy

The Tour dream of drug lord Escobar
By RAYMOND KERCKHOFFS

Updated 1 hour ago
Today, 06:44 in WHEEL RIDING

MEDELLIN / BAGNÈRES - DRUG baron Pablo Escobar tried to participate in the Tour de France with his own Colombian cycling team in the golden years of his Medellin cartel. That explains his brother Roberto Escobar, who is three years older than him, in an exclusive interview with De Telegraaf that appears on Saturday.


Roberto Escobar, the brother of Pablo Escobar, makes a striking revelation: "Our dream was to participate in the Tour de France with the first Colombian cycling team in history."

As children, the brothers Roberto and Pablo Escobar fall under the spell of cycling when they see their local cycling hero Ramon Hóyes defeat the European stars Fausto Coppi and Hugo Koblet on a climb near Medellin. Later both brothers cycle on the steep streets of the Colombian metropolis and dream that they will ride the Tour de France.

Roberto Escobar opts for the sport and grows to become the third best cyclist in his country in the late 1960s, while Pablo develops into El Patrón in the global drug trade. Later both started the Ositto bicycle brand, which is mainly abused to launder money. With this Roberto makes his appearance as the accountant of the Medellin cartel.

Cocaine bikes
When Pablo Escobar wants to go for the presidency of Colombia, both brothers set up their own cycling team in the late 1970s to promote his campaign: the 'Pablo Escobar Renovacion Liberal' team. "Our dream was to participate in the Tour de France with the first Colombian cycling team in history," reveals the now 72-year-old Roberto. "We wanted to give Colombian talents a chance in the most important race." It is probably no coincidence that a number of Colombian cyclists will be stopped later in Europe while their bicycle tubes are full of cocaine.

The best rider of the Escobar team, Gonzalo Marín, grows to be one of the cartel's most feared criminals after his short active career. Marín is designated as the perpetrator of the terrorist bombing of the building of the Colombian security service in Bogota, where 52 people were killed.

Close the cash tap
When Pablo Escobar's political career gets stuck because his drug trafficking for the congress is proven, the money for the cycling team closes. There is also a conflict with the chairman of the Colombian cycling federation Miguél Angel Bermudez during that period, who is also busy lobbying to get a team with the Eagles of the Andes in the Tour de France. Bermudez barely survives a bomb attack in his car, which is linked to the Medellin cartel. Bermudez nevertheless managed to get a Colombian amateur team to the start of the Tour for the first time in 1983.

Out of sheer frustration, the Escobar brothers are building a private cycling track near the El Tesoro shopping center in Medellin where the world's best cyclists are invited to private competitions.

https://kfgo.com/news/articles/2019...fraud-cartel/925919/?refer-section=world

Colombia arrests eight, breaks up $670 million VAT fraud 'cartel'

Former Colombian boss targeted by attempted murder last week.

Edgar Guillermo Vallejo Guarín was shot twice while in his car in the Calima Lake area, north of Cali, Valle del Cauca Department. Nicknamed "Beto el Gitano", he was on the list of the most wanted traffickers in the 1990s and was arrested for drug trafficking in Spain in 2008. He was then extradited from Spain to the United States, before returning to Colombia after serving his sentence. To the police arrived after the attack, the man presented fires identification papers but with his real photo.
The building where the attack took place is believed to be linked to Leyner Valencia Espinosa, who was sentenced to 7 years in prison in the United States and returned to Colombia in 2014. "Beto el Gitano" was with Dairo Valencia Espinosa, brother of Leyner, during his arrest in Mexico in 2010. He was also close to the third brother, Nelson Rubiel Cañar Valencia, extradited in 2009 to the United States for trafficking in cocaine and heroin. The brothers, nicknamed the "Valencia clan", were then linked to the Mexican cartel Beltran Leyva.

Colombia, Suarez mayor candidate killed in ambush

Karina Garcia, a candidate for mayor of Suarez, in southwestern Colombia, was killed along with five other people who were with her. The armored car on which the candidate of the Liberal party traveled, along with the escort and her mother, was riddled with bullets and subsequently set on fire.

In a tweet, the Colombian Ombudsman condemned the "massacre perpetrated". The area where Garcia was killed - previously threatened with death - "is an area of ​​the indigenous community" repeatedly hit by violence linked to drug trafficking and illegal extraction, explained Jair Rossi, the regional ombudsman.

The governor of Cauca, Oscar Campo, said that in total inside the vehicle there were seven people, one of whom threw himself out of the car at the time of the attack and was saved, while the others died. The governor added that it is too early to establish the perpetrators of the massacre with certainty, but stressed that Suarez is surrounded by illicit crops and laboratories for cocaine processing, and a dissident group of the Farc and the criminal gang of the Farc are active in the territory. "Los Pelusos".

The security forces, however, report the media, not have currently been able to confirm the band's involvement in the attack. Karina Garcia, as shown by a video she herself shot in mid-August, had received several threats during the election campaign. An alarm extended to many of the participants in the political dispute, reports the newspaper "El Espectador" citing a document presented by the People's Defender in early July. A text in which various testimonies of threats attributed to local armed groups are reported including factions of the same FARC. Local authorities also report that last Saturday - in the same province - three more people were found murdered, and three other bodies with heads in plastic bags were found on Sunday night. On 27 October there will be elections of regional leaders in Colombia: mayors,

https://twnews.it/it-news/colombia-uccisa-in-un-agguato-la-candidata-sindaca-di-suarez

Mexican Sinaloa Cartel claims responsibility for the killing.

https://sputniknews.com/latam/20190...r-killing-colombian-politician--reports/

‘Mafia planning to assassinate journalists who revealed ties between narco and Colombia’s ruling party’

https://colombiareports.com/mafia-p...etween-narco-and-colombias-ruling-party/

https://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/the-invisibles-of-the-drug-world/


Great article on one of the "Invisible" Narco's. We hear all about El Chapo and Escobar but I always wonder about the ones that go under the radar and quietly make there money away from the limelight.

The author does some great investigative journalism to uncover Memo and it really gives a clear picture how the Guerrillas and Narcos worked together after the fall of Escobar and the Medellin Cartel.

This was a killer article, thanks! Researching further, didn’t find anything similar. Found this on Pablo Escobar’s hippos 🦛.

https://www.gangsterismout.com/2020/04/pablo-escobars-cocaine-hippos-doing-fine.html?m=1

Its almost as if the Shadow Government = a quasi Narco/Mafiosi Government, this quarantine, could be another step towards something like that!!

Massive opportunities available or soon to be.

Earlier this week in rural Alcalá, Valle del Cauca, the Police Dijin captured Miguel Antonio Meneses, alias El Ingeniero, the main leader of 'La H', a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking in Cauca and Nariño.

​​El Ingeniero is wanted by the Dallas, Texas district of the United States for drug trafficking and terrorist financing. According to the investigations, his drug trafficking organization established in Cauca and Nariño has the support of Manuel Vásquez Castaño of the ELN, said Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo.

The capture, for extradition purposes, was supported by the Attorney General's Office, the American DEA, and the Jungle Company of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate.

According to the investigation, this man coordinated the shipment of cocaine to Central American countries and to the United States; the drug used to be marked with the logo of a horseshoe.

The man, whose criminal activity dates back to the 1980s, when he produced cocaine for the Medellín Cartel, was reported as dead last year before the National Registry of Civil Status.

The chief of the Public Prosecution Service in Colombia confirmed in an interview this week that an extremely wealthy Colombian, who heads a real estate company in Madrid, is indeed a cocaine trader, known only in small circles in Colombia as The ghost. His identity and whereabouts were revealed by Colombian journalists last month.

In a radio interview , Attorney General Francisco Barbosa now says that police investigations have concluded that Acevedo Giraldo is indeed the criminal Memo Fantasma.

Sensitive
The case is sensitive in Colombia because it was published in April about a business relationship between the husband of Colombian Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez and a Colombian company owned by Acevedo Giraldo. The vice president denied being aware of this.

After the publication by InsightCrime, Acevedo Giraldo filed a complaint of defamation and slander in Colombia .

The Colombian police completed an investigation file on Acevedo Giraldo in April, according to the Attorney General. As of now, the man is not known to be actively tracked down by either the Colombian authorities or the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It is unknown whether justice in Colombia now wants to start a case against him.

Pablo Escobar's former partner heads to Germany after release from US prison
Former Medellin cartel kingpin Carlos Lehder has been allowed to live in Germany after spending decades in a US jail for cocaine trafficking. The Colombian-German will be taken care of by a charity.

Carlos Lehder, one Colombia's most infamous "cocaine cowboys," arrived in Germany on Tuesday after spending more than 30 years in a US prison.

Holding both Colombian and German citizenships, 70-year-old Lehder was escorted by US marshals on a passenger flight from New York to Frankfurt and handed over to German authorities. He will be taken care of by a German non-profit organization, Spiegel Online reported.

Lehder was a co-founder of the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia together with the notorious cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. In the 1970s and 80s, the cartel dominated the cocaine trade from Colombia into the US, and operated for years with impunity by bribing authorities and murdering their opposition. Lehder was known for his brutality and was said to admire Adolf Hitler.

Within the cartel, Lehder was Escobar's right-hand man. At one point, he had amassed enough money to buy his own island and airstrip in the Bahamas for a fleet of aircraft to transport sacks of cocaine every day to Miami, Florida, a few hundred miles away.

In 1987, Lehder was extradited to the US and sentenced to 130 years in prison. However, his sentence was reduced after he cooperated with an investigation into Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. He was then placed in a witness protection prison in Florida.

Never been to Germany

Lehder's attorney, Oscar Arroyave, told the Associated Press his client has no interest in returning to Colombia following his prison sentence in the US.

Colombian authorities had demanded for years that Lehder be returned after serving his sentence in the US. However, his relatives said they were concerned he would be thrown back in jail.

As Lehder's father was a German immigrant to Colombia, German immigration authorities issued him a temporary passport in June. The former drug boss has never been to Germany and has no relatives in the country. He will not face any legal action from German authorities, as he has already served his prison sentence in the US.

wmr/sri (AP, AFP)

https://www.dw.com/en/pablo-escobar...-after-release-from-us-prison/a-53836556

Lehder with his daughter.

That Motherfucker. Good for him. I can't wait for his interview.

I can imagine he will later move to Spain more similar life style to Colombia, but on the other hand like we have seen with Griselda Blanco the enemies are still around ans a lot of them are based in Spain.

Its hard to believe they would release this guy...He was a monster...Someone got greased very well !!

Pretty daughter btw !!

He also founded "a neo-Nazi political party", the National Latin Movement. Without him Pablo wouldn't be the man he became. People from the left FARC and ELN hate his guts.

It looks like he settled in Berlin, Hitler's city lol.

The most important and controversial politician of Colombia's last twenty years is under house arrest. Alvaro Uribe, the president of the "iron fist" who between 2002 and 2010 led (and won with violence) the battle against the guerrillas , supporter of the "no" to the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC (later adopted ) and mentor of the current president Ivan Duque, has been confined to his home since yesterday at the behest of the Colombian Supreme Court: according to magistrates Uribe could "obstruct justice" while they investigate to prove the allegations that the former president has bribed potential witnesses in a case against him in 2014.

According to the section of the Supreme Court that investigates the members of parliament and therefore on him, Uribe is guilty of "manipulation of witnesses and procedural fraud". The case dates back to six years ago: left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda accused Uribe and his brother Santiago (under arrest since 2016) of having ties to paramilitaries and drug traffickers and to have participated in the founding of a guerrilla movement, the Bloque Metro , which then clashed with the FARC, causing thousands of victims.

Uribe denies any accusation and on Twitter says that "the deprivation of my freedom causes me deep sadness for my wife, my family and for the Colombians who still believe that I have done something good for the country".

There are still many supporters of Uribism, the right-wing liberal and populist movement that changed Colombian politics by launching a ruthless war against the FARC and the National Liberation Army, giving ample power to the military - including killing thousands of alleged guerrillas who were in innocent civilian realities, giving rise in 2008 to the scandal of so-called "false positives" - in order to restore order in the country. His successor Juan Manuel Santos then distanced himself from Uribe, who has regained great influence since the election of his dauphin Ivan Duque in 2018.

Former cartel boss who rose to power after the death of Pablo Escobar has been assassinated by hitmen.
Beto Renteria, 75, was once head of the notorious Norte del Valle cartel which shipped drugs worth billions to the US.
He only recently returned to Colombia after seven years in a US jail and was gunned down in a modest home in Sajonia, Tulua, on Wednesday.
Local reports say he was sitting in an armchair sipping water when the assassin fired through a window, hitting him in the head.
The hitman, who used 9mm "dum dum" hollow-tip bullets to ensure he would not survive, fled with an accomplice on a motorbike.
Authorities deployed extra security forces to the region to stop an outbreak of revenge violence after his death.
It is not yet known who ordered the professional-style hit, but Renteria made many enemies over the decades.
He was involved in smuggling narcotics from the 1970s, and became one of the trade's most powerful figures after the fall of the Medellin Cartel when Escobar died in 1993.
At the height of his powers he declared himself an enemy of Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, bosses of the feared Cali Cartel, and waged all-out war on his rivals.
In 2010 he was captured in Venezuela, reportedly with the help of British intelligence services.
At the time he was classified as "the last great boss of the Norte del Valle Cartel", since the other leaders of the mob had died or were captured.

Nicolás Escobar, a nephew of Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, who was shot dead in 1993, says he found $18 million in a secret warehouse. His uncle would have kept that money in the apartment in Medellín. The money was hidden in a plastic bag in the hidden area of ​​the apartment.

The notes were smelly and half decayed, according to Nicolás Escobar. Also in the storage room was a typewriter that his uncle would have typed orders and press releases on, some gold and a photo camera. Developing the roll of film produced no images.

Great article!

The ties between Colombia’s government and organized crime

https://colombiareports.com/ivan-duques-ties-to-colombias-organized-crime/

Just watched a report on Medellin, a journalist said the widespread claim the Medellin Cartel is defunct is not true. La Oficina is nothing more than a front for the cartel who are still running the city.

Spanish police: Colombian suspected of more than 100 liquidations
May 29, 2021

Agents of the National Police in Spain have arrested a suspect in Madrid who is said to have committed more than a hundred murders, including of his mother-in-law. The arrest was made at the request of the Colombian authorities. Johnatan Andrés Zuluaga Celemin, is known in Colombia as “Nene”. He is suspected of murders but also has to serve a 29-year sentence in Colombia for a conviction for manslaughter.

The murders in question were all allegedly committed in Colombia. He is also charged with membership of a criminal organization and possession of firearms. The authorities there consider him to be the head of a criminal group called “La Cordillera”. That is a criminal organization that originates from the region around the cities of Pereira and Cartago, also known as Norte del Valle.

La Cordillera is known as " oficina de cobro ", a group that can be hired for criminal debt collection and murders, but has also been involved in cocaine trafficking, according to the Spanish police. Other nicknames for Nene were “El Satanás” (devil) and “Snoopy”.

In the investigation, Spanish police tracked down the man by tracking and observing relatives. A number of them often turned out to travel by plane between Spain and Colombia. Subsequently, bank details and possessions in Spain were checked, among other things. That led to a number of physical addresses in the city of Madrid.

Eventually, the police found a woman who would be the suspect's girlfriend. The woman had a child that she would have with the Colombian. At one point, that son made contact with a man in a car who outwardly resembled the suspect. An arrest team intervened and the man was arrested.

The liquidation of his mother-in-law, in the Colombian city of Pereira, was in retaliation for embezzling funds from the organization.

“La Cordillera” is said to be active all over the world. Nene had been living in Spain for quite some time.

According to Spanish media, he was arrested twice before in Spain at the request of Colombia. But in 2015 and 2019 he was released due to form errors. He is also said to have maintained contacts in France and Belgium.

Colombia’s President Is Shot at in Helicopter but Survives Attack

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/world/americas/colombia-ivan-duque-helicopter-attack.html

Wow Memo Fantasma has been captured recently few hours later the attack on the president's heli..

https://insightcrime.org/news/accus...cevedo-memo-fantasma-captured-in-bogota/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceJLKZgOHWs&t=1s

One of Colombia's leading drug traffickers was liquidated in Bogotá on Friday. Luis Agustin Caicedo Velandia, alias “Don Lucho”, was shot and killed by some sicarios ( hitmen ) in front of a supermarket in the north of the Colombian capital , along with his lawyer .

Don Lucho is considered one of the "Invisibles", a group of new drug traffickers who are barely known, but play an important role in the current Colombian underworld.

For example, Don Lucho is considered the man behind the much more famous criminal "El Loco" ( Daniel Barrera ), who was called Colombia's last great drug lord after his arrest in 2012. Don Lucho is also said to have collaborated with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. For example, the Colombian drug lord is said to have sent a submarine with a ton of cocaine on board from Colombia to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel. An operation that failed because the submarine was intercepted.

Don Lucho is said to have started drug trafficking in the mid-1990s. Before that, he was a law enforcement officer, but after his name surfaced during an investigation into a drug trafficker's escape, he was fired

Colombian crew that smuggled tons of cocaine using “narco-submarines” pleads guilty https://gangstersinc.org/blog/colombian-crew-that-smuggled-tons-of-cocaine-using-narco-submarin

Memo Fantasma Wants Out of Prison in Colombia

Accused paramilitary drug lord “Memo Fantasma,” or “Will the Ghost,” has petitioned a judge to be let out of a Colombian prison while he awaits trial. Worth millions of dollars and with contacts across the globe, Memo Fantasma is the definition of a flight risk.

https://insightcrime.org/news/memo-fantasma-wants-out-of-prison-in-colombia/

Colombian authorities must thoroughly investigate the killing of journalist Marcos Efraín Montalvo, determine if he was targeted for his work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On September 19, in the western city of Tuluá, an unidentified man with a pistol entered a store where Montalvo was talking with a friend and fatally shot the journalist four times in the chest, according to news reports and security footage of the shooting. The gunman did not rob the store and immediately fled on a motorcycle, according to those reports.

Montalvo, 68, had reported since the 1970s for local newspapers and radio stations and for the El País newspaper in the nearby city of Cali; in recent years reported on alleged corruption and mismanagement by Tuluá officials, and had also written about organized crime, including the Cilantro Cartel, a local gang that allegedly extorted vegetable sellers in the city.

Colombia’s most embarrassing manhunt since Pablo Escobar
by Adriaan Alsema September 27, 2021
Colombia’s most powerful paramilitary leader has turned the largest manhunt since Pablo Escobar into one of the security forces’ greatest embarrassments.

https://colombiareports.com/colombias-most-embarrassing-manhunt-since-pablo-escobar/

Soccer’s ‘Smurf’ implicated in drug crime
AFP, BOGOTA

When the drugs police slapped the handcuffs on him in Naples last month, Anthony de Avila was wearing the colors of America de Cali, the Colombian club where he became a star.

The former international’s arrest and conviction in Italy should be shocking, but it is just the latest chapter in an old and sordid romance between soccer and drug trafficking in Colombia.

Nicknamed “Pitufo,” Spanish for “Smurf,” because he is just 1.54m tall, De Avila was a class act on the field, playing 54 times for Colombia.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2021/10/07/2003765676

Colombian corruption case latest overseas stain for DEA

https://apnews.com/article/colombia-miami-extradition-arrests-2b33829d32178756e28b3b24057cefaa

Juan Carlos Dávila, who was reportedly arrested in 2013 on an Italian warrant for ties to the Sicilian mafia, agreed to testify against Mosquera in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Colombia’s most wanted drug lord captured in jungle raid !

https://apnews.com/article/crime-co...escobar-e079ff84989d1ad35e4b3dc7dffdd9a7

The Colombian Clan del Golfo exported cocaine to some 28 countries. The group of recently arrested Dairo Antonio Úsuga, aka Otoniel, is the largest criminal organization in the country. On Wednesday, the Colombian police chief released information about the group in a press conference after nearly 6,000 kilograms of cocaine was seized within a week , an unusually large amount even for Colombia. Otoniel was recently arrested and will be extradited to the United States.

Nine Killed In Colombia Army Raid On Gulf Clan Drug Cartel
Faizan Hashmi Published February 02, 2022 | 10:30 AM

Bogota, Feb 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Feb, 2022 ) :At least nine people were killed Tuesday in northwestern Colombia in an army raid on the Gulf Clan drug cartel, whose commander was captured last October.

The operation began early Tuesday and was still underway in the evening when Defense Minister Diego Molano announced that "so far nine deaths have been identified in operations" against the drug gang.

The bodies were found in a rural area in the municipality of Ituango, a stronghold of the Gulf Clan, whose leader Dario Antonio Usuga, also known as Otoniel, was arrested in October in a raid involving 500 police and military personnel.

After the arrest of Otoniel, considered the most wanted drug trafficker in Colombia, President Ivan Duque declared the "end" of the Gulf Clan, which the government said was responsible for 30 percent of the cocaine being smuggled out of Colombia.

Otoniel is being held in a prison in Bogota pending his extradition to the United States, which had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Colombia's Supreme Court has approved the extradition of Dairo Antonio Úsuga, aka Otoniel. He is considered the leader of the Clan del Golfo, a large criminal network in Colombia. The US wants to try him for international cocaine trafficking.
Otoniel was arrested in October last year .
Úsuga's lawyers had argued that their client should face trial in Colombia before a special tribunal that will house participants in Colombia's civil war, which also includes FARC guerrillas.
Otoniel would also be willing to reveal details about cooperation between government officials and right-wing armed groups in exchange for preventing his extradition.
Colombia had put a $800,000 bounty on his head before his arrest, the United States $5 million.
In December, another Gulf clan leader was arrested .
The group is still active with an estimated 1,800 people in Colombia, mostly members of far-right paramilitary groups.

Colombia cartel shuts down towns over leader’s extradition

https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/colom...leader-dairo-antonio-usugas-extradition/

Paraguayan anti-mafia prosecutor killed on Colombia honeymoon

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61403318

Colombian police kill fugitive drug kingpin
Agence France-Presse
By Agence France-Presse
May 28, 2022

Bogota, Colombia: A fugitive member of Colombia's Gulf Clan drug cartel wanted by the United States has been killed by police in the South American country, the government said Thursday (Friday in Manila).

President Ivan Duque announced on Twitter that Juan Larinson Castro Estupinan, alias "Matamba" -- a former Gulf Clan boss and one of Colombia's most wanted criminals -- had been "neutralized."

The Gulf Clan, Colombia's biggest drug cartel, launched a revenge campaign this month, closing schools and bringing transport to a standstill in the country's north after its boss, Dairo Antonio Usaga, was extradited to the United States to face trafficking charges there.

Defense Minister Diego Molano said Thursday that Matamba, who had escaped prison in March pending a decision on his own extradition to the United States, was "killed in combat" in a police operation in the northern municipality of Bolivar.

"We continue dealing blows to the 'Gulf Clan'," said Duque, adding: "no bandit will have a burrow left to hide in."

Matamba had escaped from prison with the help of a guard who left his cell door open. He fled in a guard's uniform.

His helper was arrested and 55 other guards suspended, as well as the two top bosses of the La Picota prison.

His lawyers claimed he had never escaped, but was in hiding inside the prison while negotiating a surrender to the United States in exchange for information on drug routes.

In Colombia, he faced charges of criminal association for the purpose of homicide, extortion and illegally carrying of weapons.

On Wednesday, Molano also announced the "presumed death" of Miguel Botache Santillana, one of the leaders of a dissident left-wing guerrilla group, in Venezuela.

Colombia is experiencing a wave of increased violence despite a 2016 peace agreement that disarmed the FARC guerrilla group after nearly six decades of internal conflict.

Many of the areas abandoned by the FARC have since become battle grounds for the ELN rebel group, drug cartels and FARC dissidents fighting for control of drug and illegal mining revenues.

The rise in insecurity is a key issue ahead of a first round of presidential elections on Sunday.

Gustavo Petro: Colombia elects ex-rebel as first left-wing president

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61860887

Memo Fantasma Freed from Colombian Prison

https://insightcrime.org/news/memo-fantasma-freed-from-colombian-prison/

Colombian Leader Vows To Give $4.9Bln In Drug Cartels' Assets Back To People

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/colombian-leader-vows-to-give-49bln-in-drug-1556572.html

I wonder if Colombians have started to become wholesalers in Europe ... in an anti-drug operation in Italy in the port of Trieste they transported 4 tons of cocaine and sold it wholesale to the 'Ndrangheta and other groups; i thought the 'Ndrangheta bought it in Colombia for 2000 euros for kilos

What are you wondering? Few countries have the climate to grow coca leaves under cover. Who else? Peruvians, etc. Colombians were and are still the biggest and most feared. Everyone else just brokers in cocaine - including Mexicans.

the mexicans buy cocaine mostly on the wholesale market or they buy it directly in Colombia?

Befriending a capo in the Medellin Cartel: How an undercover unit infiltrated the global drug trade

By Peter Walsh for Gangsters Inc.

In the early 1990s, British law enforcement launched a new method of infiltrating the criminal underworld. The Investigation Division of Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise – the UK’s equivalent of the US Drug Enforcement Administration – began to train a small, elite squad of officers to work undercover. In this exclusive book extract from his new and revealing autobiography, The Betrayer, Guy Stanton describes how he met a capo in Colombia’s Medellin Cartel and how they struck up an unlikely friendship.

Entire story: https://gangstersinc.org/blog/befriending-a-capo-in-the-medellin-cartel-how-an-undercover-unit

I think Peru and Bolivia are the biggest coca growing countries, but as far as criminal organizations go it's mostly Colombian criminal organizations with an increased presence of Mexican as well as Brazilian narco groups that operate in those countries. Brazilian groups are also operating from Paraguay these days. As far as drug shipments to Europe go, I think the role of Brazilian gangs is somewhat underestimated. Quite a, lot of cases can be traced back to Brazil. Dominicans too, but the Dominicans are high level brokers. I'd say the Colombians are still the biggest source of cocaine shipments to Europe.

They just freed Miguel Felix. Ain't that some shit.

Yeah, it is! lol

US court sentences Colombian drug kingpin to 35 years

https://www.laprensalatina.com/us-court-sentences-colombian-drug-kingpin-to-35-years/

The accused leader of a prominent Colombian criminal group plans to change his plea in a U.S. drug trafficking case after pleading not guilty last May, records in Brooklyn federal court showed on Friday.

Dairo Antonio Usuga, better known as Otoniel, is scheduled on Jan. 25 for a change-of-plea hearing, which normally signals a forthcoming guilty plea, before U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry in Brooklyn.

Usuga, as the leader of the Clan del Golfo cartel, had been "one of the most dangerous, most wanted drug kingpins in the world," and smuggled "outrageous" amounts of cocaine into the United States from June 2003 until his arrest.

He faced up to life in prison on those counts, and has been jailed at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.

Usuga has also been indicted on drug-related charges in Manhattan and Miami. Those cases have been transferred to Brooklyn, and are part of the defendant's change-of-plea hearing, court records show.

All of Colombia's Marijuana is 'Creepy,' Until It Isn't

From Costa Rica to Chile, seizures of Colombian "creepy" marijuana have risen over the past year, but some experts are questioning whether it's the real thing or just a marketing ploy.

https://insightcrime.org/news/all-of-colombias-marijuana-is-creepy-until-it-isnt/

Rafael Moreno was murdered, but not silenced. This is how we finished his stories of Colombian corruption
Laurent Richard

To Moreno’s killers: you were wrong. This week, 32 media outlets around the world are publishing Moreno’s investigations. Killing the journalist won’t kill the story.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...no-journalist-murder-colombia-corruption

Gulf Clan: Colombia suspends ceasefire with drug cartel

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-65013430

La Oficina de Envigado (English: The Office of Envigado) is a drug cartel and criminal organization originally founded as an enforcement wing and debt collection service of Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel.
Despite being noted for its historical affiliation with drug trafficking and other organized crime activities, Oficina de Envigado's criminal activities were no longer centered on direct involvement in such activity by 2019 and are now mainly focused on providing services to lower level drug traffickers and mafia groups.
It operates throughout Colombia, but mainly in the cities of Medellín and Envigado. It also controlled extortion, gambling, and money laundering businesses within the Valle de Aburrá that surrounds Medellín. It positioned itself as the chief mediator and debt collector in drug trafficking disputes and maintained major connections with Colombian paramilitaries and guerillas.
As well as drugs, La Oficina controls a number of casinos and gambling establishments, which it uses to launder money. La Oficina also has links with local authority figures and police officers, some of whom moonlight as assassins, and it has alliances with Los Rastrojos and Los Zetas in Mexico.
In July 2019, Insight Crime stated "today’s Oficina is a coalition of mid-sized criminal organizations that provide services to transnational drug traffickers and other mafia elites, and use alliances with gangs to control territory and criminal activities in Medellín. As such, it is perhaps the most complex example of the Colombian mafia today: a tangled web of service providers and subcontractors involved in everything from money laundering and the international cocaine trade to street level drug sales and micro-extortion.

Bogota, Colombia - Former footballer Diego Leon Osorio, who played for Colombia's national team in the 1990s, has been arrested for drug trafficking for the third time, police said on Friday.

https://www.iol.co.za/sport/soccer/...ust-f8979fb1-3e78-45e1-be03-76d066cf83fc

Salvatore Mancuso Reveals AUC’s Connections in Colombia

https://insightcrime.org/news/param...so-reveals-aucs-connections-in-colombia/

Wiretapping scandal thrusts Colombian government into crisis
Leaked audio messages from a key aide to the Colombian president have raised concerns of irregular campaign financing.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/7/wiretapping-scandal-thrusts-colombian-government-into-crisis

Venezuela’s ex-spy chief extradited from Spain to US to face drug charges
Hugo Carvajal, intelligence leader under Hugo Chávez, accused of providing support to drug trafficking by rebel Farc group

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...rvajal-pollo-extradited-drug-trafficking

Son of Colombian president stole $150K from convicted drug dealer intended to donate to his father campaign, ex-wife claims

Vásquez revealed that Nicolás Petro received about $150,000 from Samuel 'The Marlboro Man' Santander, a former politician who served nearly two decades in a US prison on drug trafficking charges.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...litician-convicted-Washington-court.html

https://torontosun.com/news/crime/colombias-drug-lord-otoniel-sentenced-to-45-years-in-u-s-prison

Colombia’s drug lord Otoniel sentenced to 45 years in U.S. prison

https://insightcrime.org/news/chang...ime-colombia-connect-sentenced-to-prison

Changing Faces: Sinaloa Cartel’s Longtime Colombia-Connect Sentenced to Prison

This was another interesting piece. Thanks for this Ciment.

Sweet deal !

Notorious druglord “Chupeta " was sentenced on August 14 to twenty years in prison for, among other things, large-scale cocaine trafficking. He was a leader of the so-called Norte del Valle cartel in Colombia and later became a witness against Guzmán. Not only was he notorious as the leader of a drug cartel, he also became known for having his face altered by a plastic surgeon several times.

During his career, Chupeta (60) is said to have shipped about 500 tons of cocaine via planes, ships and semi-submarines.

With his knowledge, or at his behest, 150 people are said to have been murdered. He received a reduced sentence because after his arrest he was willing to testify against El Chapo, and against Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, the brother of “El Mayo,” the current leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

He could be released as early as 2024 if his sentence is reduced based on his good behavior. He had been in jail since 2008.

https://www.borderlandbeat.com/2024/01/brother-of-former-colombian-senator.html


Brother of Former Colombian Senator Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Smuggling After Undercover DEA Operation

https://www.barrons.com/news/colombia-ecuador-intercept-narco-subs-in-the-pacific-f4382673

Colombia, Ecuador Intercept Narco-subs In The Pacific

https://bnnbreaking.com/watch-now/c...-cocaine-in-major-santa-marta-operation/

Colombian Police Seize 2.6 Tons of Cocaine in Major Santa Marta Operation

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/el-gri...ed-murders-journalists-captured-ecuador/

"El Gringo" — alleged drug lord suspected in murders of 3 journalists — captured in Ecuador

https://people.com/who-was-griselda-blanco-colombian-cartel-leader-8421704

Who Was Griselda Blanco? Inside the Life of the Cartel Leader Who Inspired Netflix’s Griselda

https://colombiareports.com/how-col...s-protecting-an-alleged-drug-trafficker/

How Colombia’s deputy chief prosecutor is protecting an alleged drug trafficker

Barrons
AFP NEWS
Major Cocaine Trafficker Arrested In Colombia
A major drug lord responsible for supplying cocaine to European gangs was arrested in Colombia in a joint operation with Spanish police, authorities in both countries said on Saturday.

AFP - Agence France Presse
March 9, 2024
A major drug lord responsible for supplying cocaine to European gangs was arrested in Colombia in a joint operation with Spanish police, authorities in both countries said on Saturday.

Julio Andres Murillo Figueroa, 49, was detained on March 1 in his luxury villa in the region of Antioquia under an arrest warrant from Spain.

The suspect is "presumed to be directly responsible for the operations of the (Medellin) cartel in Europe and the cartel's contact with the 'Ndrangheta and Mocro Maffia criminal organisations," Spanish police said.

The 'Ndrangheta is a Calabrian criminal group from southern Italy and the Mocro Maffia is a largely Moroccan gang.

Together, they control much of the cocaine trade through the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam in Belgium and the Netherlands respectively.

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Colombian police said Figueroa, also known as H-1 or El Zar ("The Tsar"), was considered the main supplier to Jonas Sture Falk, known as the "Swedish Pablo Escobar", and had direct links to the Gulf Clan, Colombia's largest drug cartel.

Spain is one of the key entry points for cocaine to Europe given its close ties with South America, where the drug is produced.

Spanish authorities seized eight tonnes of the white powder arriving from Suriname in February and 9.5 tonnes in a container from Ecuador in August 2023.

Nice villa !

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8u0t6q

Jonas Falk when he was arrested by the DAS.
Some years ago the infamous DAS secret service in Colombia ceased to exist after 58 years. In recent years, the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad has been discredited several times. It turned out that the agency committed murders and eavesdropped on judges, politicians, human rights activists and journalists.

https://www.barrons.com/amp/news/major-cocaine-trafficker-arrested-in-colombia-5bf164fe

Major Cocaine Trafficker Arrested In Colombia

Colombia news
The Invisible Drug Lords of Colombia

By
Luis Felipe Mendoza
-

April 10, 2024
invisible Ghost Narcos Colombia
Ghost narcos and their operations are creating new and unprecedented challenges for national and international law enforcement. Credit:AP ColombiaOne
The rise of invisible drug lords or “ghost” narcos is a new challenge for Colombia and the international law enforcement. These elusive figures have quickly become a significant threat to national security in Colombia, acting as the primary intermediaries for international criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels, the Italian mafia, and networks in Spain and Brazil. Their sophisticated operations not only complicate efforts to combat drug trafficking but also pose a direct challenge to law enforcement strategies worldwide

How do ghost narcos operate in Colombia?
The Colombian government, recognizing the severity of the threat posed by these ghost narcos, has intensified its efforts to dismantle their networks. In collaboration with international partners such as the United States and the United Kingdom, Colombian authorities have made significant inroads. General William Salamanca revealed that over the past year, at least 35 ghost narcos have been apprehended, underscoring the global reach of these criminals. “Businessmen and other merchants are the ones who are causing this issue and have extended their influence to Europe,” Salamanca noted, highlighting the complex nature of the challenge.

Among the notable successes in this campaign is the capture of Ferney de Jesús Cardona, also known as “Soya”. Initially believed to be a legitimate businessman, Cardona was found to be involved in money laundering operations for the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s most formidable criminal entity. This case exemplifies the deceptive practices of ghost narcos, who often hide their illicit activities behind the facade of legal business ventures.

The operation of ghost narcos in Colombia involves a sophisticated blend of legal and illegal enterprises, making them particularly difficult to prosecute. They possess significant financial resources, enabling them to orchestrate international cocaine trafficking operations while maintaining a low profile. The Colombian national police have seized assets worth over US$168 million and have identified the ghost narcos’ modus operandi, which includes the use of intermediaries to facilitate their drug trafficking operations and to connect with European criminal networks.

What role do intermediaries play?
These intermediaries play a crucial role in the ghost narcos’ strategy, helping to diversify services essential to the global cocaine production chain, such as storage, transport, logistics, and security. Additionally, the ghost narcos maintain formidable enforcement wings, tasked with protecting their leaders, securing laboratories, and ensuring the safe passage of shipments.

This concerted effort by Colombian and international law enforcement to target ghost narcos underscores the global nature of the drug trafficking problem and the need for continued cooperation to address this pervasive threat.

https://colombiaone.com/2024/04/10/how-the-invisible-drug-lords-operate-in-colombia/

Colombians from U.S. Prisons Deployed in Ukraine War, Russia Claims
By
Luis Felipe Mendoza
-
April 12, 2024
The U.S. is allegedly recruiting Colombian prisoners to fight in Ukraine against Russia. Credit: SECOM-Presidencia / Public Domain.
The Foreign Russian Intelligence Service asserts that the U.S. is recruiting incarcerated Colombians for deployment in Ukraine to combat Russia. If Colombian inmates accept this mission, the U.S. promises them full amnesty. Many speculate that the reasoning behind such an incentive would be that U.S. authorities do not believe that they can make it back alive from the mission.

https://colombiaone.com/2024/04/12/colombian-us-russia-ukraine/

Journalist investigating corruption killed in Colombia

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/232105/journalist-investigating-corruption-killed-in-colombia