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/

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