An alleged leader of criminal gang “La Cordillera,” alias “Nico,” will be extradited to Colombia after he was captured in Ecuador with false documents, reports Ecuadorian El Tiempo.
Nico, real name Jhon Jairo Vasco Lopez, was arrested in the Jose Joaquín de Olmedo International airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador on Wednesday with false documents. Police coordinator Karen Cuello said that Guayaquil Mayor Julio Quiñonez “ordered the immediate deportation” of Nico, who has a red alert issued against him from Interpol, on behalf of Colombian authorities.
The detainee had apparently been living in an apartment in the Ecuadorian town of Cuenca for a year and a half, where he had been running a drug trafficking network.
Reports suggest Nico was second in charge of “La Cordillera” criminal organization, based in Pereira in the central Colombian department of Risaralda. He is allegedly responsible for multiple murders, drug trafficking, conspiracy and money laundering in the country.
He was arrested by Colombian police in March 2009, but was later released due to procedural mistakes during the arrest.
Earlier this month “La Cordillera” organization suffered another blow when police arrested leader “Nino Fabian”.