Colombia’s Supreme Court orders the recapture of Felipe Sierra and John Manco Torres, alias “El Indio,” alleged associates of drug trafficker Daniel Herrera Rendon, alias “Don Mario,” reports El Espectador.
The two men were originally detained on charges of drug trafficking and conspiracy, but were released due to lack of evidence. They are key witnesses in the trial against Guillermo Valencia Cossio, former head of Medellin’s Prosecutor General’s Office and brother of ex-Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia Cossio.
Valencia Cossio was arrested in 2008 for his alleged links to Don Mario, and forced out as Medellin’s head prosecutor following Cambio magazine’s publication of transcripts of taped conversations between the two men. In October he was designated as a narcotics trafficker by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Sierra, a businessman, is accused of being the link between Don Mario’s drug operation and Guillermo Valencia Cossio, while El Indio is thought to be Don Mario’s right hand man.
Don Mario was captured along with 18 members of his security team in a rural area of the central Colombian department of Antioquia in April 2009. Before his capture he led neo-paramilitary group “Los Urabeños.”
Colombia’s Supreme Court in March blocked Don Mario’s extradition to the United States in order to allow him to participate in the Justice and Peace paramilitary demobilization process, to testify about his crimes and links with politicians.